Friday, April 10, 2026
HomeVegan BakingEdible Terrarium - Gretchen's Vegan Bakery

Edible Terrarium – Gretchen’s Vegan Bakery


Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned dirt cup?

Now we can love them even more with an Edible Terrarium!
Thanks to Must Love Herbs on Instagram for the inspiration for this adorable little dessert for two!

Edible Terrarium ~ Adult Dirt Cups

 

You don’t need too much to recreate this adorable Edible Terrarium

A slice of chocolate cake for the dirt, some Pretzels and graham crackers for the rocks and sand
And a small recipe of my awesome double chocolate pudding for the mud!

Edible Terrarium ~ Adult Dirt Cups

Decorating an edible terrarium is all the fun and you can really use whatever you love the most!

Buttercream succulents and fresh herbs with a chunk of chocolate and almond “rock” is all I used!

Edible Terrarium ~ Adult Dirt Cups

My obsession with mushroom decorations seems to continue on

watch how to make these cutest little marshmallow mushrooms

Edible Terrarium ~ Adult Dirt Cups

Notes for Success:

If you are like me and you have lots of cake scraps and extra layers in your freezer~ you won’t even have to turn on the oven!
Matcha cake is perfect for the mossy green “grass” cake crumble but you can also use vanilla cake scraps colored green to make it easier!
Or keep this one completely NO BAKE by using your favorite chocolate cookies instead!

The only specialty item you really need for this is a glass trifle bowl or glass jar with a lid, so you can see all the layers

The recipe listed below is for a 4 cup capacity jar so be sure to double the recipe if you need a larger serving!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE THIS EDIBLE TERRARIUM!

Edible Terrarium ~ Adult Dirt Cups

 

Edible Terrarium ~ Adult Dirt Cups

Edible Terrarium

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients  

For the Chocolate Pudding:

  • 2 cups Plant Milk 474ml
  • ½ cup Granulated Sugar 100g
  • 3 Tbs Cornstarch 24g
  • 2 Tbs Cocoa Powder
  • ounces Vegan Chocolate
  • Tbs Vegan Butter 21g
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 5ml

For the Agar Jell-O Water * optional

  • 1 cup Fruit Juice 237ml
  • ¼ teaspoon Agar Powder
  • 1 Tbs Sugar 14g
  • Blue food color as needed
  • Marshmallow Mushrooms
  • Fresh herbs for natural decor as needed

Instructions 

  • First prepare your cake recipes according to the instructions on those recipe posts, bake the batter into any pans you like because you are going to be breaking them up to crumbs anyway. *keep this one NO BAKE by using cookies instead of cake!

  • If you are making the buttercream decor for the succulents you will need a very small recipe of buttercream, so prepare that now & reserve.

  • For the Agar Jell-O Water combine the fruit juice, agar & optional sugar in a small sauce pot and bring to a rolling boil remove from heat & add blue food color

  • Pour into the bottom of the trifle bowl & refrigerate to set

  • Be sure to have all of your components ready to go before you prepare the custard since it is easier to assemble this trifle when the custard is warm~ although it can be done when it is cold & simply scooped & spread into the layers

  • Prepare the custard by combining plant milk, sugar, cocoa powder & cornstarch in a medium sauce pot over medium to high heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly to avoid scorching the bottom .

  • Once it starts to bubble remove from the heat & add the vegan butter & the chocolate, stir to melt evenly throughout.

  • Add the vanilla extract stir to mix well.

  • Now you can start to layer all the components to this Edible Terrarium as shown in the video & as pictured above.

Video

Notes

Storage Edible Terrarium must be kept refrigerated due to the custard component

 

 

 

 

 



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