Houston hotel displays 2.5 million-calorie chocolate Santa sculpture

Award-winning Pastry Chef Mahesh Weerasinghe stands amongst his hand-sculptured, chocolate art at the Hilton Americas in downtown, Monday, Dec. 16, 2013, in Houston. Chef Mahesh, along with the culinary and property operations teams, created a 1000-pound Santa in his chair, accompanied by his elves and a wagon full of toys, all made from dark chocolate. The non-edible chocolate, after it was coated with a preserve, took over 400 man hours and two months of work to create. less Award-winning Pastry Chef Mahesh Weerasinghe stands amongst his hand-sculptured, chocolate art at the Hilton Americas in downtown, Monday, Dec. 16, 2013, in Houston. Chef Mahesh, along with the culinary and ... more Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Houston hotel displays 2.5 million-calorie chocolate Santa sculpture 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

A giant chocolate Santa Claus sculpture is greeting holiday guests in the lobby of the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston this month.



Created by pastry chef Mahesh Weerasinghe from the Hilton's kitchen, the super-sized Santa scene depicts the big man with his elves readying presents for the children of the world.



The sculpture was brought to life by Weerasinghe using 1,000 pounds of dark chocolate and chocolate dough, according to hotel spokeswoman Tere Perry. Pastry cooks and interns assisted in making gingerbread bricks that make up the fireplace and the chimney.

It's the first year the hotel has done this and the cost of the chocolate was around $5,000, according to Perry.



All that amounts to nearly 2.5 million calories in chocolate. That doesn't touch the 36 million calories that a world record-breaking gingerbread house in Bryan touted earlier this month.



"Chef Mahesh sculpted the creation using chocolate just as an artist would use clay," said Perry. The chocolate becomes very malleable with heat added. It was crafted much like a sculptor would for a bronze figure.



The hotel said that over 400 man-hours of work and construction went into creating the elaborate holiday scene. That doesn't include the time the engineering department spent on the base to hold the display.



They had originally estimated Chef Mahesh spent two months on the project, but Perry says she's seen him working on it much longer than that.



"He's been working on it for the past three months," Perry said.



After the holidays are over, the chocolate goes into cold storage at the hotel where it will sit at 70 degrees until next year where it will be included in Chef Mahesh's next chocolaty holiday scene. The plan is for it to be a part of an annual attraction.



"We are going to add on to each it year," says Perry. "Next year it will be even larger."



It's sealed with lacquer, so Perry doesn't suggest you take a bite out of it.



"That's what room service is for," she says.

You will have until Dec. 30 to check out the chocolate scene yourself.