Are you ready for the total solar eclipse? Watching the eclipse with your family is a fun way to learn about our solar system. But how about recreating it with delicious ingredients?

At the Produce Moms, we love to celebrate natural beauties that happen around us by using nutritious ingredients. Food art is a fun way to educate our kids and make something to fit the occasion, right from your own kitchen. 

Using only two ingredients — apples and chocolate — we recreated the moon phases you typically see throughout the month. 

Total Eclipse Food Art is sponsored by Sage Fruit.

So if you’ve been searching for a simple, interactive way to teach your kids about the incredible phenomenon known as the solar eclipse, this blog is for you. 

Our kids loved being our taste testers for this recipe. The best part is that it comes together in only 15 minutes. Make sure to check out our other spring-themed food art recipes at the end!

Before we dive into the recipe, let’s find out what’s so special about the solar eclipse.

What’s the Solar Eclipse?

The total solar eclipse is considered to be a rare celestial phenomenon. 

The solar eclipse happens when the earth, moon, and sun are in alignment, totally blocking light from the sun in the middle of the day (thus the name). Everything goes black, and the temperature drops as if it were the middle of the night. 

If you’re one of the lucky ones who gets a front seat to the eclipse, you’ll still need to wear approved solar eclipse glasses. Although the sun will be blocked, the sun’s rays are still too intense for your eyes to handle. So please remember that looking directly at the sun — even though it’s blocked —can still cause permanent damage to your eyes. 

Note: Check to see if your glasses are on the American Astronomical Society’s (AAS) list of approved sellers and makers. This list helps you find glasses that are the real deal for high-quality eye protection. 

When Is the Next Solar Eclipse?

The eclipse will be seen on Monday, April 8, 2024. The next total eclipse isn’t expected to come for another twenty years, in 2044! 

What Time Is the Eclipse?

The first total eclipse starts in Dallas, Texas at 1:40pm and will move northwest ending in Caribou, Maine at 3:34pm. NASA has a chart for each city that gets to see the eclipse up close and personal. The chart includes the expected times the total eclipse coverage will begin and end. 

The eclipse is a great opportunity to teach your children about the incredible wonders of our solar system. In addition to teaching them about the eclipse, using apples and chocolate to recreate the moon phases is an entertaining way to reinforce what your kiddos are learning in school about physical science.

We’ve put together a fun and tasty recipe for you that’ll have your kids hungry for more fun facts about our solar system. 

What Are Apple Moon Phases?

Half of the moon’s surface is always lit up by the sun. This gives it its white, glowing effect. As the moon rotates around the sun, it changes how much of the glowy side we see. It takes slightly less than a month (29.5 days) for the moon to complete its cycle before starting its orbit over again. 

There are four primary phases of the moon:

• New Moon — the entire moon isn’t lit up at all (an entire circle of chocolate)
• First Quarter Moon — the right half of the moon in illuminated (chocolate on the left, and apple on the right)
• Full Moon — the entire moon is completely white and glowy (a simple apple slice)
• Third Quarter Moon — the left side of the moon is lit up (the left side is bare apple and the right is covered in chocolate)

There are four intermediate phases of the moon:

• Waxing Crescent Moon — you see a crescent shape on the right side of the moon
• Waxing Gibbous Moon — ¾ of the moon to the right is illuminated, with a dark crescent shape on the left
• Waning Gibbous Moon — ¾ of the moon to the left is lit up, with a dark crescent shape on the right
• Waning Crescent Moon — you’ll see a dark crescent shape on the left side of the moon

Feel free to create each moon phase for complete accuracy in your total eclipse food art. Or just focus on the main four phases for quickness and ease. We know how hard it can be sometimes to keep your little one’s attention.

Let’s go ahead and jump into the ingredients you’ll need to create your lunar masterpieces.

Ingredients

We love a recipe that only has two ingredients and no cook time. Grab your apples and your chocolate and let’s get this total eclipse party started!

Cosmic Crisp® Apples

We love using these apples for more than just the starry connection to the eclipse. Cosmic Crisp® apples are large, juicy apples with a firm, crisp texture. They have the perfect balance of sweet and tart — making them ideal for snacking, especially with chocolate. 

These apples naturally take longer to brown. So the exposed parts of your apple moon phases keep their crisp, white texture longer after being sliced.

Chocolate Melts

We used traditional chocolate melts with a natural cocoa color to mimic the non-illuminated parts of each moon phase. Simply melt the chocolate, add it to a piping bag, and create each phase of the moon following the directions below. 

If you don’t have chocolate melts on hand, chocolate chips or chocolate bars work also. 

How to Make Moon Phases to Celebrate the Total Eclipse

Step 1: Hold your apple firmly on your cutting board and use a knife to slice your apples into thin rounds with your dominant hand. You should get about eight rounds from each apple for a total of four primary moon phases or two sets of the full moon phases.

Use a paper towel to absorb the moisture on your apple rounds so the chocolate doesn’t become watered down and runny. 

Step 2: Melt your entire bag of chocolate melts on the stovetop or in the microwave according to the package directions.

Stovetop: Fill a saucepan with 1-2 inches of water and bring it to a boil. Then empty the bag of chocolate melts into a slightly smaller, heat-safe bowl. The bowl should be able to sit in the pot without touching the water. Mix the chocolate frequently for two to three minutes until it has a smooth and glossy consistency.

Microwave: Dump the whole bag of chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in thirty-second intervals, stirring in between each heating time. 

Step 3: Transfer the melted chocolate to a piping bag and lay a piece of wax paper on your serving platter. 

Use your piping bag to outline the moon phase and then fill in the phase with the chocolate. 

Use the back of a spoon to evenly spread the melted chocolate. The chocolate represents the dark side of your moon and the apple flesh is the illuminated, glowy side of each phase.

That’s it! Just two ingredients and minimal prep work for a fun, festive total eclipse treat. Your kids will love learning about the wonders of our solar system while you make delicious memories together.

Why We Love Sage Fruit

We love partnering with Sage Fruit because of their passion for growing high-quality apples, pears, cherries, and stone fruits. They stay up to date on how to continuously improve their produce so you have access to your favorite varieties all year long. With well-established farms and the replanting of higher density trees (over 150 trees per acre), they work hard to meet the needs of you and your family.

More Spring Food Art Recipes For You to Try

For more delicious treats and delightful memories together in the kitchen, try some of our other spring food art recipes:

• Butterfly Food Art — kid-friendly snack with only 5 ingredients
• Beet Juice Boiled Eggs — deviled eggs with a bright pink twist
• Spinach Artichoke Bunny Bowl — a fun way to serve up traditional spinach artichoke dip
• Strawberry Ladybugs — transform your average strawberry into a spring ladybug