Nine Easter proposals that make pastry equal to art

Eggs that are inspired by Murano glass sculptures, that deform under the tension of a rope, that exude elegance with gold leaf or flower petals, that look like nuts but are not… Once again, the Easter campaign shows that pastry is an artistic discipline that demands precision, inventiveness, and talent.

Below we share some of the French proposals that have grabbed our attention, as well as two collections of surprising animals that come from Spain.

Le Royal Monceau is inspired by the sculptures of Lino Tagliapietra

Photo: Romeo Balancourt

Michelin-starred restaurant Il Carpacio, located in the Parisian hotel Le Royal Monceau Raffles, presents a delicate collection of Easter eggs in collaboration with chefs Oliver Piras and Alessandra Del Favero.

Inspired by the Murano glass sculptures of the Italian artist Lino Tagliapietra, they have created three chocolate eggs with a double shell made of couverture chocolate, filled with praline or candied fruit, in which high-quality Italian ingredients prevail. The first shell is made up of Pure Venezuela 56% dark couverture chocolate and is filled with coffee-flavored praline with fleur de sel, enhanced with ground roasted beans. The second egg, wrapped in a 42% Madagascar chocolate coating with notes of hazelnut at the end, is filled with candied Amalfi lemon. Finally, the third features a 66% Pure Venezuela chocolate coating with a subtle touch of caramel and enriched with Bronte pistachio-flavored praline.

Cédric Grolet, the king of trompe l’oeil

Photo: Calvin Courjon

Cédric Grolet, pastry chef at the restaurant Le Meurice Alain Ducasse (Paris), alongside his assistant François Deshayes, continues to go for trompe-l’oeil this Easter with the Almond and Hazelnut pieces, in which he has done meticulous work with chocolate to get as close as possible to the raw appearance of these nuts.

Under a coating of 45% Java Island milk chocolate from the Manufacture de Chocolat Alain Ducasse, we discover a crunchy almond praline in the first proposal and a hazelnut praline in the second. The pralines have been made according to traditional methods and enhanced with a touch of Guérande fleur de sel.

Peninsula Paris, in bloom

Photo: Laurent Fau

Anne Coruble celebrates the tenth anniversary of The Peninsula Paris hotel with a delicate creation full of poetry: L’Éclosion.

The piece is inspired by “Dancing Leaves,” the lobby’s majestic bohemian blown glass structure. With 10 petals that symbolize 10 years, it embodies the promise of good days to come, evoking the awakening of nature after winter.

On a dark chocolate base covered with milk chocolate, green vanilla and blue vanilla ganache, the egg is formed by a heart of buckwheat praline with almond and smoked vanilla, with a milk chocolate wrapper.

The Pierre Hermé Paradox

Photo: Patrick Rougereau

“Paradox has no place in my profession. It appeals to contradiction, to absurdity, to illogic. The opposite of common sense and the precision necessary for the pastry chef. Therefore, naturally, I look for the paradox of the origin of the chicken and the egg,” explains the chef.

Thus, for Easter he has created a collection on the theme of paradox, giving the egg unpredictable and improbable shapes. In this piece, under the tension of a rope, the egg bends and deforms, but does not break. Available in dark chocolate or milk chocolate, it is filled with hazelnut praline and chocolate shards.

Lluc Crusellas. Three-dimensional pattern

The current World Chocolate Master, the Spanish chef Lluc Crusellas, launches a collection of four animals in three-dimensional pattern format, without molds. One of its main attractions is that it can be made with elements that any pastry chef has in their workshop.

The first figure he created was that of the pig, which starts from some chocolate circles die-cut with pastry rings. To change the shape and achieve a little more play, he later designed the lion with a template that starts from the sphere, but has details such as the legs that can be made with pastry nozzles. The next piece was a cow-giraffe, which is closer to the shape of the egg with a template made specifically, but instead of using a mold, it uses sheets. Finally, the frog’s patterns were made to measure starting from a sphere, a little flatter than that of the pig, with protruding legs and feet from a template, which give it a fun touch.

The Maison du Chocolat. A team race against time

Photo: Laurent Rouvrais

Three athletes, each a defender of a type of chocolate (milk, dark ,and sweet) do a sack race against the clock around a giant egg-shaped stopwatch in the ‘sports’ proposal by Nicolas Cloiseau of La Maison du Chocolat. A piece that represents “a beautiful team story that we dedicate to all chocolate fans,” he says.

Thirty-five hours of work have been needed to handcraft this limited edition 100% chocolate figure. The central 56% dark chocolate egg contains 750 g of milk and dark frying and praline eggs, openwork of 450 perforations, surrounded by a chocolate race track covered with cocoa nibs with chocolate ivoire lines.

Edwin Rousseau. The elegance of gold leaf

The École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie (ESNP) celebrates this Easter with an egg that combines tradition and innovation.

Designed by award-winning chocolatier Edwin Rousseau, it features delicate and intricate chocolate motifs, embellished with gold leaf. Without a doubt, it is an invitation to experience this holiday with elegance and refinement.

Albert Daví takes us on safari

Photos: Ivan Raga

The pastry chef from the Chocolate Academy of Barcelona started the ZOOcholate collection in 2022, which has evolved every year, gaining in spectacularity and complexity. In addition, it includes a kit to reproduce it.

The center of all the pieces is a ring, from which characteristic features of each animal are added. This 2024, Albert Daví has decided to focus on a specific geographical area: Africa. As assembly innovations, we find an intermediate plate that allows for more volume and incorporation of elements in the middle of the ring, facilitating and ensuring more precise assembly. “Stencil painting is another technique that we include especially in those pieces that require a lot of detail and precision,” he explains.

Peep-a-Boos inside real eggshells by Dominique Ansel

Dominique Ansel shows his softer side this Easter campaign and presents Peep-a-Boo marshmallow chicks that are nestled inside real eggshells.

The chef invites you to delicately break the shells to reveal a marshmallow chick surrounded by Valrhona 62% dark chocolate, with a gooey caramel center with a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt.