This 'Rocky Road through Holy Week' recipe is a great way to explore the events of Holy Week with children of all ages. Each ingredient relates to a key event in the Easter story, & combined together they create a tasty treat to share. It's also a fun way to help children sequence the events of the Easter Story.
For our recipe you'll need:
1 Drop of orange extract
2 Handfuls of raisins
12 Glace cherries
1 100g Bag of Mini Easter eggs
3 Mars bars
1 135g Bag of Maltesers
4 100g Bars of milk chocolate
2 Handfuls of small white marshmallows
1 Handful of green sweets (we used Jelly Tots but you could use any green candy)
5 Sweet biscuits
30 Silver sugar balls
10" square baking tray lined with baking paper
1. To start the Rocky Road through Holy Week add the green sweets to a mixing bowl. These green sweets remind us of the green palms waved on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.
2. Next break the bars of chocolate into pieces to represent Jesus turning over the tables in the temple on the Monday of Holy Week. As you break the chocolate think about how angry Jesus must have been. Add the chocolate to a glass bowl & start to gently heat over a pan of water.
3. Add a drop of orange extract to the melting chocolate. The scent of the orange oil represents the anointing of Jesus at Bethany with the expensive perfume.
4. Throw the raisins into the mixing bowl with the sweets. The raisins remind us of Tuesday & Jesus' lesson of the fig tree.
5. Count out 30 silver sugar balls & place these in a separate dish to use later. These represent the Wednesday of Holy Week & the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid to betray Jesus.
6. Break the biscuits into small sections to represent Maundy Thursday when Jesus broke the bread at the Last Supper. Cut the cherries in half to represent the red wine Jesus shared at that meal, & add the biscuits & cherries to the mixing bowl.
7. Cut the Mars bars into small chunks & add to the dry ingredients. A Mars bar is made of 3 layers, & these 3 layers represent the cockerel crowing 3 times when Peter denied Jesus on Maundy Thursday.
8. Collect the white marshmallows as a reminder of the linen they wrapped Jesus' body in, & a pinch of cinnamon to represent the spices the women used on Good Friday, & mix together with the dry ingredients.
9. Empty the packet of Maltesers into the dry ingredients as a reminder of the sealed tomb on Easter Saturday & the round stone that was rolled in front of it.
10. Take the melted chocolate off the heat & mix in the dry ingredients until everything is coated in the chocolate. Pour the mixture into a lined baking tray & sprinkle the 30 silver sugar balls over the top.
11. Finally place the mini chocolate Easter eggs over the top of the Rocky Road. These eggs remind us of the Resurrection on Easter Day with the promise of new life.
12. Place the Rocky Road in the fridge for a couple of hours until set, & then cut into small pieces to share with friends. We left our Rocky Road to stand for 15mins before slicing as it was pretty hard to cut through the solid layers.
As you slice through the layers of Rocky Road the events of Holy Week are revealed, & it's great to hear the children recalling what each ingredient represents as they find it.
I recently made this with a group of teenagers who loved creating this together as a team & were totally engaged with the Easter story. It's such a great gift to share; just add our Free Recipe label with a couple of pieces of Rocky Road & the story of Holy Week can be shared with friends.
You can download your FREE printable Rocky Road label HERE.
Looking for more ideas to explore during Holy Week?
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