Charmaine Mok

On The Menu | Giant pastries go viral in Hong Kong, but guess where they all end up after that IG photo?

Giant coffees, croissants and pineapple buns may look cute for social media, but they are a huge waste of time, ingredients and calories

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Hong Kong bakeries are hopping on the oversized baked goods trend started by French chef Philippe Conticini (one of his pastries is pictured). Photo: Instagram/@philippe_conticini

Charmaine Mok

Published: 7:45am, 27 Jun 2024

Social media has recently been flooded with images of oversized Hong Kong baked goods. First it was the massive croissant and latte offered at Cookie DPT in a collaboration with local patisserie brand Le Dessert.

Waif-like young women would film themselves giggling while struggling to lift the giant cup of coffee at the store in Central on Hong Kong Island, while plenty more smarmed for the camera while hoisting the gargantuan pastry in the air.

How many actually ate any of it?

Le Dessert founder Juliene de Preaumont assures us that because the experience needs to be booked in advance and it only produces the giant croissant on demand, “so far all customers who booked a session finished their croissant”.

The massive croissant and latte offered at Cookie DPT was in collaboration with Hong Kong patisserie brand Le Dessert. Photo: Instagram/@cookie.dpt

I’d love to believe it, but in at least one Instagram story I saw of an empty table, the coffee looked like it had long gone cold and more than half the croissant was left untouched, a dent barely made, left behind for staff to clear up and throw straight into the bin.