Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel in Windermere is celebrating the sweet taste of success after selling the most expensive dessert in the world.

Chef Marc Guilbert’s lavish creation of chocolate, gold, champagne topped with a real diamond was sold for a mouth-watering £22,000.

The hotel is now waiting for confirmation that the dessert will take its place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Carl Weininger from Rugby splashed out on the wildly extravagant chocolate pudding as a treat for his 60th birthday on December 5 and as a show-piece for a charity ball.

Styled like a Faberge Easter egg, the beautifully-crafted dessert is layered with champagne jelly and a light biscuit joconde before being finished with bitter dark chocolate and glazed with real gold leaf.

The centrepiece of the dessert is a stunning two carat diamond which has been supplied by the award-winning Wave Jewellery which has shops in Kendal, Bowness-on-Windermere, Lancaster, Manchester and London.

Carl said: “I am an impulsive sort of person and when I heard about the dessert on TV it stuck in my mind.

"Buying the dessert has been a real boost for my morale and it’s helped to promote the charity Aerobility which gives disabled adults like me and children the opportunity to take to the skies and fly.

“It’s not something you do every day and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I gave people a little taste of the dessert at our charity Aviators Ball this weekend.

"I’m not much of a chocolate lover myself but all the women who tasted it said ‘Wow!’".

Lindeth Howe Hotel created the dessert to celebrate National Chocolate Week.

It is made with four different types of the finest Belgian chocolate flavoured with a combination of peach, orange and whiskey.

Intricate handmade chocolate flowers and edible gold dust descorate the outside.

As a finishing touch the indulgent dessert is served with champagne and strawberry caviar.

Managing director of Lindeth Howe Stephen Broughton says: “We’re thrilled to have sold the dessert and look forward to making it into the Guinness Book of Records.

"We pride ourselves on making world class desserts – and now this one will go down in history.”

Chef Marc Guilbert also created a second dessert, with a smaller diamond, for the Aviators Ball, which was raffled, along with a say at Lindeth Howe, raising £1100 for Aerobility.

At £22,000 per egg, the dessert easily breaks the previous world record which was held by New York’s Serendipity Restaurant with a pudding priced at £12,000.

A customer had to buy the dessert for it to take its place in the Guinness Book of World Records.