Edible and over-the-top: The world's most stunning chocolate Easter eggs

Updated 1549 GMT (2349 HKT) April 18, 2014

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Ever year the chefs at Claridge's, London's celebrated Art Deco hotel, handcraft a series of limited edition Deco eggs, available in dark, milk and white chocolate. Chefs fill each egg, which costs around $90, with miniature chocolate eggs, making a sweet treat even sweeter. The black-and-white wrapping references the hotel's famous foyer, and the box adds another layer of luxury. According to pastry chef Ross Sneddo: "It's a way of extending the Claridge's experience into someone's home." Claridge's

Guy Krenzer and his army of pastry chefs at Maison Lanotre dreamed up this chocolate masterpiece, which is inspired by Delftware and traditional Chinese porcelain. Available for purchase at the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris, it's made from dark Tanzanian grand cru chocolate and has both fruity and spicy notes. Thomas Dhelemms

Famous for turning everyday objects into art, sculptor SAK joined forces with chocolatier Pascal Lac to create this ornamental egg called Pajaro, which means 'bird' in Spanish. The artists' idea was to pay homage to the Mayan civilization, which considered chocolate the food of the gods. D-clic numeric

This may look like an orb made of rubber bands, but it is actually an edible Easter egg from French pastry chef Pierre Hermé. It pays homage to the metal sculptures of Swiss artist Beat Zoderer by layering multicolored chocolate strips around an 875-gram Brazilian dark chocolate egg. Hermé has made 15 of the eggs, which retail for $290. Pierre Hermé Paris

At La Mere de Famille, renowned chocolatier Julien Merceron dressed his egg in an elegant milk and dark chocolate suits. The "Tete d'Oeuf" comes with a colorful sheet of facial features to cut out and personalize the Easter treat. Courtesy La Mere de Famille

François Perret, the head pastry chef at the Shangri-La Paris, created his "toy egg" using Carupano 70% dark chocolate. Perret says he drew inspiration from "a fun and colorful toy that I loved as a child." The various layers can be unstacked and re-ordered before being gobbled up. Shangri-la Paris

Pierre Mathieu, the head pastry chef at the Mandarin Oriental Paris, crafted 50 of these magical eggs using milk chocolate, white chocolate, praline peanut and gold decoration. Each egg required 90 minutes of work. Inspired by a Chinese tanagram puzzle, the lucky foodie can use seven pieces of white chocolate to form a shape on the egg's base. According to Mathieu: "This was a good way to combine the French knowledge we use to make chocolate with Mandarin Oriental's Asian heritage." Each egg costs around $95. Courtesy Pierre Mathieu/TCARON

The chefs at Hugo & Victor, the luxury pâtisserie and chocolaterie in Paris, took inspiration from the magical world of French fabulist Jean de la Fontaine. In his fable the Fox and the Stork, the fox invited the stork for dinner and served soup in a bowl. While the fox lapped up his meal, the stork couldn't eat with his beak. In revenge, the stork served dinner in a narrow-necked vessel when the fox came around. The fox ended up leaving hungry. The moral? The trickster must expect to be tricked. Stéphane De Bourgies

On April 20 children staying at the Le Bristol Paris will gather in the hotel's garden for its annual Easter Egg hunt. The tot who finds a pink egg will win this stunning chocolate egg, sculpted by head pasty chef Laurent Jeannin. The open-worked piece, inspired by the Piaget Rose collection, contains a magnificent Piaget Rose ring in 18 carat pink gold set with a brilliant cut diamond. Happy Easter, indeed! Laurent Jeannin

Loic Carbonnet, the head pastry chef at the Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, spent 25 days making 50 haute eggs. Each egg, which costs $125, is actually an egg (7cm) inside an egg (13cm) inside an egg (22cm). Carbonnet spent seven hours crafting the first egg. He had to be careful to watch the temperature. The process involves heating chocolate to 50 degrees Celsius, then cooling it to 28 degrees, and then raising the temperature to 31 degrees to shape it. Four Seasons London

Chocolate artist Patrick Roger is famous for creating monumental chocolate sculptures, such as the 32-ft. tall chocolate Christmas tree he erected in his studio in 2010. For Easter 2014 he has created a chocolate menagerie, replete with toads and sheep. Patrick Gerard

Taking inspiration from the Land of the Rising Sun, Christophe Roussel has created a sushi plate made entirely of chocolate, chocolate paste, marzipan and nougat. Chop sticks allow choc-o-holics to dip their colorful maki and sushi in salted butter caramel. Patrick Gerard/Christophe Roussel

Chocolatier Christophe Roussel covered his chocolate egg with edible sugar daisies. You have to pick all of the flowers (she loves me, she loves me not...) to reach the grand cru Nyangbo 68% chocolate that lies beneath. Patrick Gérard/Christophe Roussel

Patrick Roger sculpted this giant egg in the form of the moon in its last quarter. Using dark chocolate, he sought to capture the smoothness and richness of the chocolate and the luminescence of the moon. Patrick Gerard

French chocolatier Christophe Michalak decided to give his Easter egg a rock 'n' roll vibe. Sandwiched between two chocolate records, praline and mini-chocolate eggs wriggle to the rhythm of Easter. Laurent Fau

Alsatian chocolatier Thierry Mulhaupt went for simple and striking for his 2014 collection. Adorned with an elegant red ribbon made of sugar, Mulhaupt's egg oozes French chic. Stéphane Spach