Pimp That Snack

13kg Wagon Wheel

by Drunk and Disorderly Steve 14 photos Rated 88% 489 votes when voting closed

INGREDIENTS
500g shortbread biscuits
1.5kg marshmallows
500g butter
500g Jam
10kg milk chocolate

estimated cost – £32

This photo shows only a portion of the chocolate used as initial estimates were slightly low. We also bought too many packs of biscuits and only ended up using 5.

Bags of marshmallows, packs of rich tea biscuits, stacked chocolate bars and a jar of jam covering a kitchen worktop

STEP ONE
Make a mould 500cm across and 10cm deep from cardboard, covering it with cling film or foil (or both if you run out like I did) to stop the chocolate sticking to It. Like me you may need to buy and drink and whole crate of Lager to get some cardboard, it was torture 🙂

Improvised circular mould built from card and foil, a Carling can beside it for scale

STEP TWO
Melt up 4kg of chocolate, this is enough to provide a decently strong base for this mighty biscuit. Pour this into the base and put in the fridge to set. Your half meter mould should just fit in a standard sized fridge – If not it might take a while to set.

Melted chocolate poured from a saucepan into the round mould on the utility room floor

STEP THREE
Whilst your base of chocolate sets get to work bashing the life out of those biscuits. Crush 5 packets to a nice consistency.

Crushed shortbread crumbs filling a baking tray with more in a glass bowl beside it

STEP FOUR
Melt half your tub of butter in the microwave and mix the delicious molten butter into half of your crushed biscuits – stir fast or the biscuit goes soggy!

Biscuit crumbs in a big glass bowl with a mug of melted butter ready to mix in

STEP FIVE
Remove your base from the fridge and, after pausing for 5 minutes to admire its spectacular size, spread your buttered biscuit mix over leaving a half inch gap around the outside.

Buttered biscuit crumb pressed in a layer over the set chocolate base inside the ring

STEP SIX
Melt up half your marshmallows in the microwave and pour over the biscuit. I used a fork to push the quickly setting marshmallow around to an even coat which seals the side of the biscuit.

A thick layer of pink marshmallow spread over the biscuit base in the mould

STEP SEVEN
Take a whole jar of jam and melt it to a molten liquid mass and spread it over your marshmallow. note: do not be tempted to try eating the molten jam – it burns!

Red jam spread in a spiral across the marshmallow layer

STEP EIGHT
Melt the rest of your marshmallows and cover the jam. Leave to set and in the mean time melt the remaining half tub of butter and mix with your remaining crushed biscuits.

A second marshmallow layer sealing in the jam, filling the mould to the rim

STEP NINE
Add your second biscuit layer.

Another layer of biscuit crumb spread over the marshmallow

STEP TEN
Melt up the remaining 6kg of chocolate and pour around the sides and over the top. The top is deliberately messy as real wagon wheels have an equally amateur looking finish! Add extra chocolate to get an even top if neccessary but 6kg should do it.

Melted chocolate poured over the top and smoothed to seal the whole wheel

STEP ELEVEN
After leaving this monster to set for a long long time it should be safe to remove the mould! My wagon wheel is 2 tone as the local shop ran out milk chocolate (cant think why!! haha)

The finished wheel unmoulded on a foil-covered board, a lager can beside it for scale

STEP TWELVE
Admire your handiwork and take a picture of yourself with your monster biscuit to serve as an eternal memory of the day you held something so extraordinary!

A quick weigh in on the bathroom scales reveals a 13kg final weight! That’s over 200 times bigger than your standard store bought wagon wheel! And price per kilo it’s a lot cheaper too – you’d actually be foolish not to make one!!

Holding the finished wheel upright in a living room; it is as wide as his torso

STEP THIRTEEN
Slap together a quick wrapper from wrapping paper and add a mega sized wagon wheel logo for good measure! Congratulations, now have yourself a beer for a job well done!

The finished wheel in a huge blue foil WAGONWHEELS MEGA wrapper, ringed by Carling cans

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