Dinosaurs

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Volcano valley

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  1. Prepare the Rice Krispies mixture as per the recipe. Grease your hands with butter or margarine and shape the mixture into a towering volcano. Leave to set.
  2. Place the volcano on a wire rack with a bowl underneath to catch the drips. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and pour it over the volcano until it is covered completely. Set aside until the chocolate has hardened.
  3. Spread a 6 cm-wide strip of blue butter icing diagonally across the cake board (from one corner to about two-thirds of the way to the other corner). Spread brown butter icing over the last third and place the volcano on top. Cover the rear section of the board with brown butter icing and the front part with green butter icing.
  4. Break the peanut brittle and fudge squares into rough pieces. Place them, and the chocolate balls, around the base of the volcano and down the sides of the blue ‘river’, to resemble rocks. Pile peanut clusters on the brown ‘earth’ to create a rocky ledge (use melted milk chocolate to attach a second layer of peanut clusters to add height).
  5. Make two dinosaur nests. Use broken peanut brittle to create a nest among the peanut cluster ‘rocks’. Place some chocolate eggs into the nest. For a second nest, place a blob of green butter icing on the ‘grass’. Break pretzel sticks into short pieces and press them into the butter icing to make a woody nest. Add some chocolate eggs.
  6. Melt the red chocolate in the microwave. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the chocolate down the front of the volcano. Melt the orange chocolate and drizzle it over the red chocolate, to resemble red-hot lava.
  7. Decorate the scene with plastic dinosaurs, chocolate ‘logs’ and Jelly Tots. Scatter bone-shaped sweets over the grass and earth sections and place fish-shaped sweets in the river.

MAKES 1 VOLCANO VALLEY

Volcano cones

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  1. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and dip the open end of the ice-cream cone into the melted chocolate. Fill the cone with a variety of small sweets. Place the Tennis biscuit over the open end of the cone to seal the sweets inside. Set aside until the chocolate hardens.
  2. Place the cone on a wire rack with a bowl underneath to catch the drips. Melt the milk chocolate again if necessary and pour over the cones until they are completely covered. Place chocolate balls and pieces of fudge around the base of the cone, to resemble rocks. Set aside until the chocolate hardens.
  3. Cut the tip off the cone and push the ends of the red liquorice strips into the opening. Melt the red chocolate and drizzle it over the top so it runs down the side of the cone. Melt orange-coloured chocolate and drizzle it over the red chocolate to make a lava flow. Set aside until the chocolate hardens.

MAKES 10

Hatching eggs

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  1. Roll out the white fondant and cut out an egg shape. Cut the egg into two pieces, making a jagged edge so it looks as if the egg has cracked.
  2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and spread some over a Marie biscuit. Place the fondant egg on the wet chocolate, leaving a gap between the two pieces. Place two Smarties in the gap and use a toothpick and a dab of melted chocolate to add a small dot to each ‘eye’.
  3. Set aside until the chocolate hardens.

MAKES 10

Egg marshmallows

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  1. Insert the lollipop stick into the marshmallow.
  2. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and spoon it over the marshmallow so it runs down the sides. Position two chocolate eggs on top before the chocolate sets.
  3. Set aside until the chocolate has hardened completely.

MAKES 10

Dino print lollipops

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  1. Roll out the fondant and cut 20 circles the same size as the lollipops. Use two circles per lollipop and attach them to either side, pressing the edges together so the lollipop is enclosed in fondant.
  2. Use the plastic dinosaur to press a footprint into the soft fondant. Brush with edible bronze glitter.
  3. Set aside until the fondant hardens.

MAKES 10

Dinosaur kebabs

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  1. Melt the different colours of chocolate in the microwave, stirring often. Pour the melted chocolate into the dinosaur moulds and place in the fridge until set. Unmould.
  2. Spread some melted chocolate over the flat side of the dinosaur. Place the tip of a skewer on the wet chocolate and add more chocolate, to secure the skewer. Set aside until the chocolate has set completely.
  3. Thread the sweets onto the wet skewers from the bottom. Start with a sugared ring-shaped sweet (this will be below the dinosaur), then add a sugared ribbon and finally a piece of marshmallow twirl. (You may need to cut the sugared ribbon into smaller pieces and thread them individually onto the skewer.)

Tip: If the skewer gets too sticky, wipe it with a hot, wet cloth, or wet the skewer before threading the sweets.

MAKES 10

Easy dinosaur cupcakes

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CUPCAKE NESTS

  1. Spread caramel over the top of the cupcake. Break the pretzel sticks into shorter lengths and insert them into the cupcake to form a nest shape. Place chocolate eggs in the centre of the nest.

FOSSIL CUPCAKES

  1. Spread caramel over the top of the cupcake and top with sugared jelly bone-shaped sweets and chocolate balls.

CHOCOLATE DINOSAUR CUPCAKES

  1. Melt the coloured chocolate in the microwave, stirring often. Pour the melted chocolate into the dinosaur moulds and place in the fridge until set, then unmould. Dip the marshmallows into melted milk chocolate and place on wax paper until the chocolate hardens. Spread caramel over the top of the cupcake. Place the marshmallow on the cupcake and stand a chocolate dinosaur in front of the marshmallow, to keep it upright.

MAKES 12

Crunchy rocks

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  1. Crush the Marie biscuits in a mixing bowl. Add the Milo powder, coconut and condensed milk and stir until well mixed. Place spoonfuls of the mixture on wax paper. Sprinkle over Milo powder until the rocks are completely covered. Set aside until the mixture hardens.

MAKES ± 20

Dinosaur eggs

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  1. Dab some glue under the dinosaur’s feet and stick it to the lid of the container. Allow the glue to dry.
  2. Fill the container with sweets and then seal with the lid.

MAKES 10

Rice Krispies dinosaurs

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  1. Prepare the Rice Krispies mixture as per the recipe, adding green colouring. Turn out onto wax paper and press flat. Leave to set.
  2. Cut out dinosaur shapes from the set Rice Krispies mixture.
  3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Use a fork to drizzle the chocolate over the dinosaur shapes. Set aside until the chocolate hardens.

MAKES 10