Easter is on Sunday, and hotels, restaurants, and homes will be filled with lavish sweets to celebrate the springy holiday. For some dessert inspiration, here's a peek at 10 inventive creations from pastry chefs across North America.
Jenny Keller, the Seattle-based founder of Jenny Cookies, is the author of Eat More Desserts. In her book, Keller provides a recipe for "brownie nests" (pictured) that are made with brownies, coconut shreds, buttercream frosting, and colored jelly beans.
In Northern Virginia, Amphora Group catering decorates its Easter egg cakes with pastel icing in elaborate patterns. The cakes come in flavors such as white-chocolate-mousse-raspberry, chocolate-mousse-raspberry, and double chocolate.
At the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, executive chef Laurent Branlard creates Easter-theme chocolate sculptures that weigh between 44 and 100 pounds. One such sculpture resembles the classic toy Mr. Potato Head, made out of dark chocolate, cocoa butter, cocoa food coloring, and fondant.
Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event in Chicago styles Easter sweets tables with take-home treats for guests. Included are icy blue petit fours from Toni Patisserie.
The Peninsula Chicago prepares Easter brunch spreads accented with oversize confections from pastry chef Dimitri Payard. One piece is a topiary-like tree made of raspberry and pistachio macarons. The macarons are adhered to a chocolate sphere using thick icing, and the tree has a chocolate stick and base. The creation takes four hours to complete.
Chicago catering firm Truffleberry Market creates kafir lime and ginger truffles and serves the dainty treat with an edible chocolate leaf.
At the Breakers Palm Beach resort in Florida, pastry chef Elmar Wolf creates miniature desserts for Easter spreads. One such treat, served in a chocolate cup, is also served with a springlike garnish: an edible leaf.
The Four Seasons Hotel New York has edible holiday decor including oversize chocolate eggs decked with butterflies in Easter-egg-like shades of pink, blue, and purple.
For Easter, Gotham Bar and Grill in New York has a special box of bonbons. Created by pastry chef Ron Paprocki, the desserts come in the following flavors: lemon-olive-oil, Cointreau-caramel, and Sicilian-pistachio.
Another whimsical dessert from Truffleberry Market is a flight of miniature pancakes, served with sweet toppings such as chocolate hazelnut, Meyer lemon curd with berries, and maple bacon.
