Chefs bake their way to record

A legion of Swiss pastry chefs have baked their way into the Guinness Book of World Records with a 1221.6-metre chocolate Napoleon.

Around 100 people, including 25 pastry chefs and assistants, pulled together the 4.2-tonne mille-feuille pastry, breaking a record set in Belgium 20 years ago by nearly 200 metres, the ATS news agency reported.

After scrutinising each inch of the flaky, layered cake to ensure it was held together as a single block, Guinness judge Anna Orford declared the new record, to cheers from about 2000 onlookers gathered at the Palexpo centre in Geneva on Sunday.

A total of 250 people had helped prepare the feat over the past six months, according to Gilles Desplanches, who initiated the project to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his pastry shop.

The giant pastry, consisting of 864 litres of cream, 576 litres of milk, 600kg of flour, 432kg of butter and 360kg of chocolate fondant, was sliced into 30,000 pieces to be sold.

The expected 100,000 Swiss franc ($102,000) proceeds will go to an organisation combating breast cancer, ATS reported.

Source: The West Australian, 12 November 2012