Introduction: Candy Sushi

Here are a set of instructions for making a particular kind of Candy Sushi. I've seen other versions that use hostess products (think twinkie) floating around on the internet. Since I can't stand that sort of food (and I want to be able to eat my creation) I came up with this rice-cereal-and-candy version.

Step 1: Ingredients

Things You Will Need:

Puffed Rice Cereal (ie. Rice Krispies)
(I'm sure the store brand will work fine.)

Marshmallows
(One 1 lb bag of marshmallows should be more than enough.)

Butter
(I bought a pound of butter but didn't use anywhere near that much. You're going to be using the basic rice cereal treat recipe that can be found on marshmallow bags. Go with whatever that recipe asks for.)

Flat "Rollup" Candy (ie. Fruit Roll-Ups)
(Again, store brand is probably a-ok. At first I tried really hard to find roll-ups that were just green, so that they looked the most like real sushi. This turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be, so I ended up using lots of different colors. In the end, I was really happy with the rainbow of sushi I ended up with, because it emphasized the fact that these were candy while still looking a lot like sushi. You may want to be more realistic than me.)

Gummi Worms, Fruits, & Fish
(I tried several kinds of gummi candies for this. Haribo's Clown Fish worked the best, sticking to everything really well. Oversized Swedish Fish didn't work so well. Gummi worms worked well for the insides of the maki. In the future I hope to make more outrageous candy sushi featuring gummy octopi, squid, and other strange gummy candies. Haribo is really good for this.)

Note: no cat necessary for this project.

Step 2: Making Rice Filling and Patties

First, make rice crispie treats according to package directions (these instructions can usually be found on marshmallow or rice cereal packaging).

Then arrange your workspace with a large try (such as a cutting board), your bowl of cereal treat mix, and a bowl of water.

During this whole stage, you want to keep your hands (particularly fingers) constantly moist. The rice cereal is VERY sticky and hard to mold unless you keep this in mind. You don't want your hands too wet, but definitely not too dry either.

Now take about half of the mix and divide it into three sections. Take one section and flatten it out into a long rectangle. Lay gummi worms along the middle of the rectangle. Carefully roll the rectangle up around the worms to create a tube. This is the main part of our maki.

Take the other half of the mix and form it into little oval-shaped patties. These will be the bases for our individual pieces.

In the picture you can see three tubes of rice cereal mix and gummy worms next to nine rice patties.

Clear room in your fridge and put the whole tray inside. You'll need to keep these guys cool while you decorate them individually.

Step 3: Decorating Pieces

Lay out two full sheets of fruit roll-up candy and any fish that you are planning to use for the individual pieces.

Cut the fruit roll-ups into about half inch strips.

(Pull your rice patties one-by-one from the fridge for these next steps and then replace them when finished.)

Smoosh a single fish gummy onto a rice patty. The stickiness of the rice cereal mix should hold it relatively well. Now take a strip of fruit roll-up and wrap around the fish-cereal creation. Press the roll-up firmly against the rice cereal in particular so that it sticks well.

Step 4: Decorating Maki

After you've finished decorating all the individual pieces, it's time to move onto the maki rolls. (I recommend doing these after the pieces because it gives the rolls time to firm up in the fridge.)

Lay out more fruit roll-up sheets. Cut each sheet into approximately 1 inch sections.

Take a single roll out of the fridge. Slice into about 1 inch sections with a knife (I found serrated worked best).

Wrap the fruit roll-up around the maki pieces, making sure to press it into the rice cereal so that it sticks well.

You may want to straighten the ends of the rolls by chopping off the excess.