FRIENDSHIP BITES

DIFFICULTY

FEEDS

Friends don’t lie, but they sure do taste good

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE POPS

3½ tablespoons butter

1½ cup mini marshmallows

¾ cup crisped rice cereal (i.e. Rice Krispies)

4 ounces milk chocolate

4 ounces white chocolate

4 ounces red chocolate, (All chocolate should be broken into pieces.)

TO DECORATE

Sour Spaghetti (or Cola laces if available)

Red, blue, and white fondant

Edible paper

Green and black food coloring

Petal paste

You will need:

3 cake pop sticks

DIRECTIONS

TO MAKE THE CAKE POPS

Grease a 13 x 9-inch pan. Melt the butter in a large, heavy based saucepan over low heat. Add the marshmallows and cook gently until they are completely melted and blended, stirring constantly. Mix well. Take the pan off the heat and immediately add the cereal, mixing lightly until well coated. Let the mix cool before dividing into three equal portions and shaping each into a head. It will be very sticky, so wet your hands if necessary.

Once complete, use a sharp knife to cut the upper quarter from one of the heads. Set aside this offcut for later. Use a knife to make a small hole in the base of each of the heads. (Remember the rule: “if you draw first blood… “) Insert the cake pop sticks with a little melted chocolate. Place the three heads upright in a freezer to harden.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE COATINGS

For the chocolate coatings, place the milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place white and red chocolates combined in a separate heatproof bowl. Set both over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally just until melted and mixing the red and white chocolate to make a pink. Don’t let the water boil, unless you’re a goblin with an intelligence score of zero.

FOR THE FINISHING TOUCHES

Remove both from the heat and use a palette knife to apply the chocolate to one of the heads and the white chocolate mixture to the other two. Using a fine paintbrush, apply the black food coloring to create the faces of Lucas, Mike, and Dustin. Set aside a little melted chocolate for decoration.

For Lucas’s head, dip the top of the milk chocolate-covered head into a bowl of dark chocolate sprinkles. Use a knife to cut a strip from the edible paper and then using a paintbrush to apply the green and black food colors to make a camouflage pattern. When dry, wrap the paper around his head to make a bandana.

For Mike’s head, use a small piping bag and nozzle to pipe the leftover milk chocolate to form the hair.

For Dustin’s head, use a sharp knife to cut the Cola laces to length and, using a bit of melted chocolate, affix them to the head. Roll out the icing and use a sharp knife to cut the pattern for the cap and lay it on the offcut of the head prepared earlier. To make the peak of the cap you may need to use some petal paste to stiffen the icing. Attach to the head, on top of the hair, with melted chocolate.

Share and enjoy. And remember that you can have more than one best friend.