9 Ton Mayan Temple Chocolate Sculpture Breaks World Record

With its chocolate Mayan Temple, pastry chef Francois Mellet of Qzina Specialty Foods has broken the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Chocolate Sculpture, beating out a previous record from 2010. The sculpture weighs in at 18,239 pounds (over 9 tons) and depicts the Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico. It will be on display in Irvine, California at the Qzina Institute of Chocolate & Pastry until December 31, 2012 (when the Mayan calendar comes to an end).

Extensive planning and research set the groundwork to accurately capture the details and intricacies of an authentic Mayan temple down to the exact number of steps and panels representing numbers significant to the Mayan calendar. Built proportionally to the ancient temple’s true size, the solid chocolate pyramid is six feet tall and its base measures 10 feet by 10 feet – exactly one-thirtieth the size. The sculpture’s base alone weighs more than 3,000 pounds.

via The Awesomer and ShockBlast

images via Qzina Specialty Foods