Dessert anyone? Sri Lankan hotel charges $14,500

COLOMBO (Reuters Life!) - It is the jewel in the crown of its menu -- a luxury Sri Lankan hotel is offering clients what it claims is the world's most expensive dessert, with a price tag of $14,500 a serving.

The Fortress in Koggala, 80 miles south of the capital Colombo, says the price of the sabayon is due to ingredients like Dom Perignon champagne, gold and silver leaf -- and an 80-carat aquamarine the diameter of the head of a soup spoon set into the dish.

But the hotel, whose rooms run to up to $1,600 a night, is still waiting for the first taker of the sabayon encircled by caramelized sugar, topped with a compote and flanked by a Valrhona chocolate figure of a traditional stilt fisherman that the gem rests on.

"No-one has actually ordered it. We did get two enquiries from Japan from guests that will be coming in December... Hopefully we will get one or two out before the year is up," Fortress General Manager Axel Jarosch said on Monday.

"At $14,500, it's not exactly something you can sell every single day," he added. "Obviously for that price, whoever orders the desert gets to take the stone home... We have written to the Guinness Book of World Records and are awaiting their feedback."

The aquamarine, mined in Sri Lanka, is worth $14,000.