Recipe: Chocolate Mousse Terrarium

This picturesque dessert perfectly embodies Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival.

If you’re looking for a fun spring treat that tastes delicious, look no further than the Chocolate Mousse Terrarium that can be found at the Trowel & Trellis booth at the 2024 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. The Chocolate Mousse Terrarium is layered with chocolate “soil” and a matcha crumble, and is topped with edible flowers. It is the perfect dessert to order if you want to be on theme with the Flower & Garden Festival, and it is easy to recreate at home as well! 

Chocolate Mousse Terrarium

Yields 2 servings

Ingredients:

Matcha crumble

• 3 ½ tablespoons salted butter, softened

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons matcha powder

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Mousse

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

• ½ cup heavy whipping cream

• ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream, chilled

• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Assembly

• 8 chocolate wafer cookies (such as Oreo cookies, with the cream removed), crushed

• 2 ramekins or glasses to hold the mousse

• Edible or decorative flowers

Instructions:

Matcha crumble

1. Preheat the oven to 320º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, add your softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. 

3. Sift the matcha powder into the bowl and then mix well. 

4. In another small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

5. Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the butter, sugars, and matcha and mix until a crumbly consistency is achieved.

6. Scatter the crumble on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

7. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Mousse

1. In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add your chocolate chips and ½ cup of heavy whipping cream.

2. Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir the mixture. Repeat this step until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

3. Set the melted chocolate mixture aside for it to cool to room temperature.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add ⅔ cup of chilled heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.

5. Beat on medium speed with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. 

6. If your chocolate mixture is not yet room temperature, you can store the whipped cream in the fridge until the melted chocolate mixture has cooled.

7. Once the chocolate has cooled, use a spatula to fold the whipped cream into the melted chocolate until combined.

Assembly

1. Scoop a layer of mousse into each of your serving cups/ramekins. Only fill up the vessel about ⅓ of the way, since we will be adding more layers. Make sure to reserve half of your mousse for the top layer.

2. Shake and tap the vessel to ensure that the mousse layer is evenly distributed and relatively flat.

3. Add a layer of cookie crumbles to each of your mousse vessels. 

4. Add another layer of mousse on top of the cookie crumbles.

5. Top with the matcha crumble and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the mousse set. You can also freeze them for about 30 minutes if you want them to be ready faster. 

6. When serving, top with flowers. If you are not using edible flowers, make sure to remove them when you eat the mousse.

Review:

This is such a fun and pretty dessert to make! It was very easy and came together quicker than I thought it would. The chocolate mousse is deliciously sweet and you can even customize the flavor by using different types of chocolate chips if you want to. The Oreo layer and the matcha crunch topping pair so well with the smoothness of the mousse. The matcha crumble will make enough for probably 6-8 servings of mousse, so if you want to multiply the mousse recipe, you can do so without having to multiply the matcha crumble recipe as well.