It’s November, which means next month is Christmas. It will come sooner than you think. Here’s a Christmas recipe to tuck away, ready for the silly season.
Recently, I had a crazy idea of creating a Christmas nativity scene out of chocolate. If I’m honest, I’m no food blogger. I have previously shared a photo of my Christmas shortbread: it was as black as the ace of spades. That’s what happens when I multitask in the kitchen. I didn’t realize I’d put a last batch of shortbread in the oven, and while I was cooking dinner, that shortbread turned a deep shade of black. They were completely useless!
Anyway, when I thought up my chocolate Nativity scene idea, I visualised in my head what I’d need. I went with the flow in creating it while my girls were napping. I emptied my top freezer so that I could set the components.
If you do give this a go with the kids, try and pick a cool day or have the aircon cranked up, so the chocolate doesn’t melt when you work with it. A month later, my nativity scene is still sitting in the fridge, and it’s still standing, so that’s proof that I built it well.
Ingredients
- 1 block of Cadbury chocolate (or a ribbed chocolate block)
- 3 thin blocks of dark chocolate
- 1 packet of Starburst Babies – for baby Jesus
- 1 pack of mini Flakes – for Jesus’ manger and decoration
- 1 packet of Jelly Babies for Mary, Joseph and the three wise men
- 1 packet of chocolate melts
- 1 packet of Chang’s noodles – for the hay
- 1 pretzel Star or star-shaped cereal piece
Method
Firstly, melt half a pack of chocolate melts. Then use two large platters to construct the base of your nativity scene and the roof. You will need to make sure the platter can fit into your freezer.
Fix the walls of the nativity scene by placing the thin dark chocolate blocks into the grooves of the Cadbury block chocolate. Don’t worry about how messy the melted chocolate looks. It will be covered with noodles later. Place the base in the freeze to set.
Meanwhile, break two blocks of the dark chocolate and place them together to create the roof. Use two ramekins to keep the chocolate roof in place. Then put this in the freezer.
Remove the base of the nativity scene and drizzle melted chocolate on the floor of your nativity scene to add the Jelly Babies. You can also add the back walls using the broken-off ends of the dark chocolate blocks for the roof. Again don’t worry if there is melted chocolate all over the place. The noodles will soon cover it over.
Quickly place this in the freezer for the Jelly Babies to set in place. Once set, attach the roof onto the base and sprinkle the noodles. Add the cereal or pretzel star to the front edge of the roof and sprinkle flake over the top of the roof to hide the adhesion.
Voilà!
The chocolate nativity scene is meant to look rustic. It’s a very simple Christmas recipe and a fun way to teach kids the real meaning of Christmas.
This nativity scene would look great in the middle of a food table for a church Christmas party or at home on the dessert table. Or it could be simply done as a craft at home with the kids these school holidays.
Have you ever ‘built’ something out of food? What’s your favourite Christmas recipe? Please share below!
Originally published at The Plumbette.