See how these incredible Easter chocolate sculptures are made (PHOTOS)

For most big occasions, Chez Christophe creates incredible sculptures made entirely out of our all-time favourite ingredient – chocolate.

Big or small, the finished products that come from the Burnaby-based chocolaterie and patisserie are stellar, both visually and taste-wise.

We know you love eating them, but have you ever wondered how these works of edible art are made? The process takes time and effort, but when it’s finished you get a whimsical character that’s been carefully thought out from conception to creation.

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We’re going to show you how one of Chez Christophe’s cutest Easter showpieces this year, ‘Lucien le Lapin’ – AKA the lumberjack bunny – is made from start to finish.

Considering every bunny has approximately 10 to 15 individual pieces before it’s put together, the team at Chez Christophe prep and paint the pieces before executing the final assembly of the sculpture. Each piece of chocolate is intricate, and no detail goes overlooked.

The little bunny cheeks are made with whisker marks, and just this one piece is made up of several smaller ones: a bunny nose, buck teeth, and a tiny adorable moustache – because every good lumberjack needs some facial hair, right?

The bunny’s body starts as two half-eggs painted in Canada flag red. One half is filled with Chez Christophe’s chocolates and then sealed with warm chocolate and edible cooling spray to speed up the process.

Once the body is sealed with the artisan chocolates inside, it is glued down to a square chocolate base using – you guessed it – more chocolate!

The body is then dipped in a dark chocolate on the bottom and a lighter-coloured chocolate on top to give off bunny fur vibes.

Once the arms are attached, the bunny’s belt and suspenders are cut from chocolate ganache that has been prepared and rolled out beforehand.

After that the hat, mouth, and eyes are mounted of the bunny’s head, along with a pint-sized axe made from Chez Christophe’s signature branded dark chocolate.

The bunny is then put into the fridge to cool, and eventually packaged for its lucky owner to take home to devour. The finished product is an adorable almost too-cute-to-eat bunny rabbit.

The team at Chez Christophe is not new to the chocolate game, so they have prepared over 400 bunnies for the 2017 Easter season, and they’re ready to make more if necessary. Every bunny takes about 45 minutes to complete, so these beauties are truly labours of love.

Every year Chez Christophe makes a variety of Easter showpieces, and in 2017 they decided to create characters that incorporate an ode to Canada is some way, a delicious nod to the country’s 150th birthday celebration.

Customers can purchase the ‘Farmyard Friends’ chocolate birds, the ‘En Guard’ RCMP bunny, the “What’s up, Doc?” bunny in the carrot, and the ‘Roger Canuck’ hockey bunny.

Rabbitouille, a chef-inspired bunny sculpture, was created in partnership with the BC SPCA. Two dollars from each Rabbitouille chocolate bunny sold will be donated, not to mention those who pop into the Burnaby location can enter the Easter raffle to win the Extra Large Chocolate Bunny (over 30 pounds of chocolate, people).

Tickets are 1 for $2 or 3 for $5. This draw will take place on Easter Sunday (April 16) at 9 am.

After watching the process from beginning to end, it’s hard not to develop a huge appreciation for chocolatiers and the countless hours they spend on their feet to bring us out-of-this-world treats.

The only thing that makes the chocolate taste even sweeter, is seeing how much time and effort is put into its creation behind the scenes. So the next time you bite into a bunny, be sure to slowly enjoy it – the chocolatier who made it would definitely want you to.

Chez Christophe

Address: 4717 Hastings Street, Burnaby
Instagram: @chezchristophe