Make an Edible Marzipan Nativity Scene in Minutes

Delight all the members of your household with a creative, edible marzipan nativity scene! With this easy-to-follow guide, it takes only minutes to create a festive decoration.

Making Your Edible Marzipan Nativity

Celebrate the holiday season with an imaginative and tasty treat - a marzipan nativity scene. This delightful edible display is easy to make and requires just a few simple ingredients! With this guide, you will be able to craft your own stunning marzipan nativity in minutes.

Getting Started

The holidays are my favorite time of year. Finals are over and I am excited to have time with the children and spend the week enjoying holiday themed activities together. They are so excited about Christmas. Today my son told me he was "stressed out" because he ONLY had seven days to get his sister a present and wrap it.

So tonight we kicked off the week by making our own edible nativity. We had a great time.

Gather Your Ingredients

You will need graham crackers, frosting, homemade or store-bought marzipan, and coconut to make your nativities. Read below for some additional ways to decorate your nativity!

GRAB SOME OTHER FUN KID FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES HERE!

Roll the Marzipan Into Dough and Cut Out Parts of the Scene

It's time to create your nativity scene. Start by rolling the marzipan dough onto a piece of parchment paper using a rolling pin. Once it's about half an inch thick, begin cutting out the different parts of your scene with cookie cutters. You could also skip this step and roll and shape the marzipan with playdough like figures. Create characters like the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, shepherds and animals from the miniature candy pieces. Place them onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with edible glitter to give them a festive touch!

Assemble the Nativity Scene with Fruit and Vegetables

You can even take your nativity scene one step further by adding some fruits and vegetables if you would like. We used graham crackers to assemble an easy manger and "glued" our manager together using frosting. We used coconut flakes for the manager roof and floor. You can cut carrots into thin sticks to make the wooden beams of the stable. Slice apples or pears for the shepherds' hats; use parsley for their beards. Grapes make lovely little fruit trees, and nature makes its own baby Jesus in the form of a mushroom! Scatter them around the edges of your marzipan scene, making sure they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

Decorate With Icing and Nonpareils to Complete the Look!

Add the finishing touches to your marzipan nativity scene with a few swirls of icing and nonpareils. Trace the details of the roof and fence with white piping and scatter festive sprinkles to imitate snow. Glue tiny stars over the manger where baby Jesus will lay, then use leftover cake decorations as your wise men's groupings of gifts. Finally, cut out some large leaves from green cardstock or construction paper for a lush garden effect – a gorgeous contrast against all the deliciousness below! You can do as much or as little as you want. We went with a very simple and easy look.

See how nice his nativity looked? Seconds later it came crashing down, and his poor manger looked like this:

He decided he needed to reinforce the walls, so his final creation turned out something like this:

And if you are like my daughter and want a "coconut free manger because it's disgusting" manger, well then here you go:

A Quick Tip

Make sure to have a small bowl of water handy. The kids found it easier to mold with when they dipped their fingers in water to moisten them first before trying to mold with it.

Can I Use Gluten Free Graham Crackers?

Absolutely!

Have Fun Displaying Your Marzipan Nativity Scene!

Now that you have a beautiful edible marzipan nativity scene, it’s time to display it for all to admire. Place your dessert centerpiece next to the dinner table or on a coffee table and let the festivities begin! Be sure to share photos of your masterpiece around social media so all your friends and family can enjoy it too. Have fun, be creative and enjoy your edible scene!