Easter’s Most Extraordinary Egg

By Kaaren Valenta

When it comes to chocolate Easter eggs, Patrick T. Wilson makes them big.

The award-winning chef, who owned the Brookfield Bistro from 1994 to 1999, made a 50-pound panoramic egg this year and later donated it to the children’s department at Danbury Hospital.

“I loved the panoramic eggs that I used to get from my mother at Easter when I was a kid,” Mr Wilson said. “I looked to buy one, but couldn’t find anything that I wanted. So this year I decided to make a big one to use at the Saint Andrews Golf Club in Hastings, New York, where I am the chef and clubhouse manager.”

He ordered a candy mold for an egg in a manageable size, but the mold that was shipped turned out to be much big- ger. Undaunted, he proceeded anyway.

“The mold was for half an egg so I had to make two of them and put them together,” he explained. “I got 40 pounds of good Dutch chocolate and set to work.”

The first effort was not a success.

“The chocolate didn’t temper properly so after I unmolded it, I realized I had to start over,” Mr Wilson said. “The second time worked. I got about ten pounds of jelly beans to fill it and decorated it with royal icing.”

To illuminate the inside, he heated a pineapple corer and made a small hole in the back of the egg to insert a low-heat light.

“It was so much work I probably will never do it again,” he said.

But after the egg was displayed at the golf club, he brought it home to show his son, Jack, 9, then stopped at The Bee on his way to Danbury Hospital, where the children and staff would soon be able to eat the entire confection.

Mr Wilson recently was awarded the designation of certified executive chef by the American Culinary Federation Board of Directors and its National Certification Committee. The designation required advanced education, work experience, and passing a written exam. To keep the certification, Mr Wilson must renew it every five years by documenting continued education, as well as updating sanitation, nutrition, and supervision classes every ten years.