For this local bakery, making Easter chocolate is a passion.

With a small chocolate melting machine that looks like a miniature chocolate fountain and Jenga-like towers stacked with decorated molds is how Anne Parker and Yann Lusseau, both pastry chefs and co-owners of Parker-Lusseau Pastries, started the second phase of their Easter chocolate production. Together with three employees gathered around a large table they began: adding two layers of chocolate to each mold and making small pieces of chocolate to fill the sweet, artful figurines.

Making chocolate on a small scale, it turns out, takes way longer than devouring it – even if you were to eat two pounds of the stuff (or the largest egg sold at Parker-Lusseau). It’s a two-day process that, at this Monterey bakery, consumes about 20 hours every week.

It all starts with cleaning and decorating the molds with colored white chocolate. Then, each mold is filled, placed on the chocolate vibrating machine (to get rid of any bubbles) and drained; after drying upside down for several minutes the excess is scraped away and the chocolates get a second layer of chocolate to provide the right thickness and texture.

When Parker-Lusseau first started making seasonal chocolate, they sifted the chocolate by hand instead of using a vibrating machine. “[It] was loud and tiring,” Parker says. When they got a vibrating machine seven years ago they reduce production time by two hours.

A simple thermometer plays an important role to make sure the chocolate is ready to be poured into the molds. At the right temperature, chocolate “will hold its shape, its texture and its beauty at room temp without refrigeration,” Lusseau says. But if the temperature isn’t right, the finished product will lose its crunch or will crumble. The last step in the process of creating these treasures is putting the pieces together – this happens on day two. Hollowed pieces are stuffed with foiled chocolate eggs and small chocolates shaped like seashells and fish, then glued together and wrapped in cellophane.

Parker-Lusseau Pastries has been making Easter chocolate, more or less like this, for the past 25 years. In the beginning, they produced only 50 pounds of chocolate; since then, production has grown six-fold and the bakery is currently turning out about 300 pounds.

“It caught like wildfire. Every year we have to produce more and more,” Lusseau says. And the hard work pays off – “it shows a final product that’s unique. That you won’t find in any other shops, at least in Monterey County.” The total output, over six weeks, is about 2,000 pieces of milk and dark chocolate of different sizes – from small pieces just an inch long to large eggs the size of a football.

Parker and Lusseau say dark chocolate is the most popular – at one point, they did white chocolate batches with little success. Lusseau believes most of their production – since each piece is pricy – is consumed by adults, but there are some exceptions. One loyal customer from San Francisco drives south every year to buy four large eggs for his grandchildren.

Parker says that instead of using old-fashion aluminum molds, they use molds made of polycarbonate plastic because they are easier to work with.

Parker says they look for cute and classic molds. Fish and turtles are the most popular shapes – “you could almost sell them year-round, not just for Easter,” she adds. Lusseau says their mold collection lacks a more regional animal like a sea lion or sea otter, and they would like to add one. Their favorite molds are the simpler ones. “The eggs allow us to be more creative,” Lusseau says.

Every year, Parker-Lusseau makes bûche de nöel for Christmas, chocolate truffles for Valentine’s Day and chocolates for Easter. Each seasonal offering is incredibly popular. “If we don’t put it on the shelf, we are going to have a riot,” Lusseau says.

The chocolates are available at Parker-Lusseau now. But if you want some, hurry: Parker says most times they sell out by Good Friday, the Friday before Easter.

PARKER-LUSSEAU PASTRIES, 539 Hartnell St., Monterey. Monday-Friday 7:30am-4pm and Saturday 7:30am-3:30pm. 641-9188, parkerlusseau.com