Craft Articles

Model Earth

Planet Earth consists of four different layers. There is an inner core, an outer core, a mantel and a crust. By following the recipe below, you can make your own edible model of our planet. Before you start making your own little Earth, it is important to learn how deep each layer should be in comparison to the other layers. The earth’s crust is only 20 miles deep while the mantle is over 4,000 miles deep! The outer core is 2,200 miles deep and the inner core is 800 miles deep.  

You will need:
One clear glass bowl with a 10 inch diameter
4 bowls to mix your ingredients in
A plastic bag
Utensils to stir things with

8 oz. pkg. black cherry gelatine dessert
4 oz. pkg. raspberry gelatine dessert
4 oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding
Water according to the manufacturers instructions
(Some companies sell vanilla pudding that should be mixed with milk; in that case you will of course need milk too.)

12 graham crackers
½ cup of melted margarine
¼ granulated sugar

How to make an edible Earth desert:

1. Prepare black cherry gelatine and raspberry gelatine desert; each in their own bowl. Always follow the instructions from the manufacturer, since the exact instructions can vary somewhat between different companies. You may need to boil some of the water.
2. Prepare the vanilla pudding following the instructions from the manufacturer.
3. Place the three desert bowls in the refrigerator to set. This will take roughly 2 hours.
4. Place the graham crackers in the plastic bag and crush them into fine crumbs.
5. Melt the margarine and measure it to make sure that you have ½ a cup of melted margarine. 
6. Mix crushed graham crackers, melted margarine and granulated sugar in a bowl.
7. Press the graham mixture onto the bottom and along the sides of the 10” glass bowl to create the Earths’ crust. 
8. Take out the deserts from the refrigerator and spoon the black cherry desert into the graham cracker crust. Leave a pocket in the middle of the bowl. The black cherry desert will symbolise the 4000 mile deep mantle.  
9. Spoon vanilla pudding into the hole, but leave small hole in the middle. The vanilla pudding symbolises the 2,200 mile deep outer core.
10. Spoon the raspberry gelatine dessert into the small hole. The raspberry gelatine dessert symbolises the 800 mile deep inner core.