If anybody ever August Gloop’d their way off the Willy Wonka tour down into the way-deep underground of the chocolate factory, they’d probably find—possibly along with some oompa loompa bones—chocolate geodes like the ones made by pastry students AbbyLee Wilcox and Alex O’Brien Yeatts. They’re essentially massive chocolate eggs and when they’re split open, a crystalline heart of sugar is revealed that’s so dense it’s sure to make any sweet tooth’s heart melt (or sweetheart’s teeth shatter).
INSIDER reported on the giant chocolate geodes in a recent video, although, apparently, there were issues with who is owed credit for coming up with the idea for this specific take on the chocolate geode. Yeatts notes that the geodes were made entirely “under the guidance of Chef Greweling” at the Culinary Institute of America, and that both he and Wilcox “worked on [the geodes] together…”
Attribution aside, these Birdo eggs of cacao and candy crystal are something quite magical scientifically awesome. The sugar water that’s been glorped into the bellies of the chocolate egg shells—it’s unclear exactly how this is done, perhaps they pour it into halves, then combine the halves—takes six months in order to crystallize and develop that classic geode-innards look. It takes such an extensive period of time because sugar molecules are slowly being pushed out of the supersaturated solution and then sticking to the (presumably) sugar-coated wall of the chocolate egg. (The sugar water is considered to be supersaturated because the sugar it contains was melted in while the water was boiling, and as the water cools, the amount of sugar molecules it can hold, or its solubility, decreases.)
The result of the long process, which also involved flipping the eggs on a daily basis, is nothing short of spectacular. In one of Yeatts’ instagram videos, the sheer awe of the crowd of students is unmistakably that of kids first discovering a candy store.
What do you think about these chocolate geodes? Do you know of a quicker way to make them? Let us know your thoughts below!
Images: YouTube / INSIDERÂ
