An “Edible Terrarium” With Chocolate Mousse and Pistachio “Soil”

Tarciani Harger

Inspiration for a new, crowd-pleasing menu item can come from anywhere: a favorite song, a nostalgic memory or the trip of a lifetime. Tarciani Harger, pastry chef of Soby’s, a farm-to-table Southern concept, found one muse in Falls Park, a city center oasis of lush greenery for Greenville, S.C., residents, particularly as a respite during the heat of summer. The park sparked Harger’s imaginative Sweet Summer Greenville dessert, an “edible terrarium” of artfully placed ingredients that represent a broad array of colors and textures. “I sought to represent not only its influential beauty but elements that reflected the soul of the city,” she says.

Built within a glass, the base of the dessert is a creamy, spiced rum-chocolate mousse, which is topped with bright dollops of passionfruit gel that provide a stark contrast in both color and flavor. Next, pistachio sponge cake and crispy golden pine nuts are added, and it’s all finished with miniature edible flowers that reinforce a summer state of mind. “I’m always looking to mix textures and balance sugar with acidity, so that when you put it in your mouth, there is a response,” says Harger. While the beauty of the meticulously assembled creation initially looked “too pretty to eat,” customers quickly turned it into one of Soby’s top-selling desserts.

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