Pimp That Snack
Language: English

Elephantine Animal Cracker

About this build

A giant elephant-shaped biscuit cut from homemade dough, baked on a large foil-covered rack and finished with chocolate.

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Elephantine Animal Cracker

What the original account establishes

These notes distinguish the recorded result from quantities or settings the contributor did not specify. Follow each source link to the original passage.

  • After 6 weeks of pub discussions the two makers found everything else already on the site and chose Animal Crackers, buying a box for research that colleagues ate. Sieving 1.5kgs of flour and beating 6 eggs was harder than expected; the flour was mixed with 600g of butter and 600g of sugar, the eggs added by hand, and a baking tray had to be pimped because no normal one was big enough. The biscuit was kneaded, described as the most difficult thing in the world, and carved into an elephant. The oven time of 12 to 15 minutes became 59 minutes, a cup of tea and a trip to Sainsbury’s; the chocolate then took 28 hours to dry. Total cost £4.94. Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4 · Source 5 · Source 6 · Source 7 · Source 8
Notes from the contributor

Selected passages from the original account. Quantities may describe shopping, tests or the final build; follow the linked passage for its full context.

Mixing 1.5kgs of flour, 600g of butter and 600g of sugar is grosser than you might think (and creates a disappointingly small amount of mess). But still they persevered. Adding 6 eggs did not make it any easier, but at least they got their hands dirty. Realising their biscuit was too big for any normal baking tray, they went the extra mile and pimped one!

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The original account

Once upon a time, two slightly crazy girls started talking about pimping a snack. After 6 weeks of pub discussions, they decided they would have to pimp up or shut up. But what to pimp? After everything they considered slowly appeared on the website, Animal Crackers became the only option.

An excellent option nonetheless.

In the name of research the girls invested in a box of Animal Crackers. After selecting some specimens for study, their bemused colleagues ate the remaining evidence.

And so to the pimp…

Eggs, Stork margarine, flour, sugar, Green & Black's bars and two packs of Cadbury Animals

Sieving 1.5kgs of flour and beating 6 eggs is harder than you might think. But our heroines weren’t going to give up that easily.

Amy sieving flour from a Tesco bag into a mixing bowl at the counter

Mixing 1.5kgs of flour, 600g of butter and 600g of sugar is grosser than you might think (and creates a disappointingly small amount of mess). But still they persevered. Adding 6 eggs did not make it any easier, but at least they got their hands dirty. Realising their biscuit was too big for any normal baking tray, they went the extra mile and pimped one!

An oven shelf wrapped in foil on the dining table as an improvised baking tray

Kneading a giant biscuit is the most difficult thing in the world ever. Weightlifters should incorporate this into a training programme. Then their (limited) artistic qualities came to the fore as they carved their elephantine biscuit.

Cutting an elephant shape from a huge slab of biscuit dough with a knife

And so into the oven. 12 to 15 minutes. Yeah right. 59 minutes, a cup of tea and a trip to Sainsbury’s later, he was ready to come out.

Two bakers sitting with mugs of tea while the elephant bakes

Cooking was nothing compared to waiting for the chocolate to dry, but 28 hours later it was done.

The baked elephant biscuit filling the foil sheet, trimmed offcuts behind

The giant elephant biscuit beside a normal Cadbury Animals elephant for scale

Total cost of £4.94, bargain.

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