"Edible Terrarium" - the making - tutorial

You need :

Glass containers

Cooking chocolate (dark or semi sweet)/chocolate spread

Granulated sugar

Desiccated coconut

Food colours – green, red

Icing pen – white colour

Marshmallows

Tooty-fruity (green ones)

Store brought chocolate cake mix (which is the most easiest way). I used the eggless chocolate cake recipe from MariasMenu, the same that i had used for my "Gangnam Style" cake.
 

How to:

 

If you are using store brought chocolate cake mix, then prepare it as per packet instructions.

Pour the mix carefully into the glass containers, just to about an inch or less. Its best to pour the mix using a funnel so that the glass stays clean , but I just scooped in few spoonfuls. Bake at 180 degrees till done.

Take granulated sugar in a bowl and add few drops of green food colour .

Mix thoroughly , not to forget ..have your hand gloves on.

Take the marshmallows, cut at edges..just roughly to make it resemble boulders.

Roll the marshmalows in the green coloured sugar till they are well coated with the sugar.

 

Using marshmallow fondant (click “here” for the detailed post on how to make the fondant), make mini toads.

 

 

Take some desiccated coconut and add few drops of green food colour. You needn’t mix it thoroughly, as its visually more appealing to have the different tones of green – dark, light..you got it?.

Now, melt some dark chocolate in the microwave, or using a double boiler and apply on top of the cooled chocolate cake in the glasses. This is just to make a base for the grass (green coloured coconut) to stick on to the soil.(the cake). You can very well use some melted chocolate spread, nutella or even fruit jam.

Sprinkle the green coconut and a bit of the green coloured sugar on top of the cake..well..i will call it soil.

Carefully insert the toad , the boulders, (big and small ones using a tweezer) in..and few daarrrk green coloured tooty-fruities. Just about anything that you feel will bring about the wild forestry effect. (I have used Dr. Oetker icing pen to do the white dots on the toad heads).

Well..you are just about there !

 

Wrap and decorate …. your  fancy. I personally prefer to have a mini greeting card too along with such gifts tied around the neck of the glass jar. Think it has become customary for most of the gift items that I prepare. (Few similar ones in "this" post…not edible thou).



Hope you liked it! :)