Iron Man Rice Krispie Pops

My oldest just celebrated his 5th birthday.  Weeks prior to his birthday he informed me that he wanted an Iron Man party, so I put the gears in motion to figure out what we could put together.  I love the idea of Cake Pops (Bakerella continues to inspire me), but wasn't sure I wanted to tackle that again.  I was hoping using Rice Krispie treats in lieu of cake would make the pops a little easier to handle.  And, it was... but fair warning, these took me HOURS to make.  I wasn't even in one of my neurotic-perfectionist moods!  I just wanted to get these pops done so I had enough for my son's class.  I think they came out awesome.  I would totally make them again.  However, I would have more adult beverages on hand before I begin :)

Age: 5+ (My son helped me on some of the steps, but was bored about the frist 30 minutes)

Time: Too long!  Reserve a block of hours on your schedule.

Cleanup:  I didn't want to take a picture of my kitchen because it was a MESS!

What You Need:

• Rice Krispie Treats (we made a homemade batch, and had some pre-made ones on hand)
• Lollipop sticks
• Red Candy Melts (Like these).  I forgot to take a picture of them.
• Fruit Roll-Ups.  Look for the Cherry-Orange Wildfire ones - which only came in a variety pack.  So I had to buy a couple boxes.  You will get about 3 masks per fruit roll-up. 
• Cookie frosting
• Black food coloring gel
• Gold Luster Dust (edible glittery powder)
• Brand new paint brushes
• Waxed paper or a silpat mat
• Bowl

Why I Like This Craft: Because it made my son happy :)  I heard him tell his cousin that, "my mom can make anything."  He rocks.

Step 1: Form your rice krispie treats into the shape of an Iron Man helmet.  Insert popsicle stick.  When all are formed pop in the fridge or freezer.

Step 2: Melt your candy coating according to package instructions.  Mix until smooth. 

Step 3: Take your treats out of the fridge and dip the pop into the coating.  Pour chocolate over the treat to ensure everything is covered.  Shake off excess and place pop on waxed paper or the silpat mat. I made these the night before I did the decorating.

Step 4:  On your computer, Google some images of Iron Man.  I found one that I like and resized it so it roughly matched the size of my pops.  Cut out the gold part of the mask.  You could freehand this part, but for some reason I couldn't get the proportions of the mask correct, so I just snagged an image to use as a pattern.

Step 5: Warning -- this is the tedious and time consuming part.  Unroll your Fruit Roll-Ups.  Place your pattern on the Fruit Roll-Up and cut out (with very clean, sharp scissors) the mask.  Note:  In the picture below I used a 2-toned Fruit Roll-Up (I don't remember the name of the flavor).  The Cherry-Orange Wildfire flavor comes with a "tongue-tattoo".  So I used a wet paper towel to wipe off the tattoo so I just had a plain roll-up.  This made things very sticky!  Also, I intially attempted to use Marshmallow Fondant for the mask, but I couldn't easily cut the fondant with the scissors, so I decided to use the Fruit Roll-Ups instead.

Step 6: "Paint" the mask with the luster dust. 

My son couldn't wait to paint the Fruit Roll-Ups.  It looks red in the picture, but it's actually an orange and yellow swirl.

Step 7: Using your graphic as a guide, paint on the details of Iron Man's mask.  I found that black gel food coloring, with some water, and a thin paint brush made this task pretty painless.  I first attempted with a food writer, but that didn't work too well on the Fruit Roll-Up.

Step 8:  Using the cookie icing, color in the eyes.  Also, use it as glue to stick the mask on the pop.

Step 9:  I was 2 pops short for the teachers, so I quickly (2 minutes) whipped up these apples.  Cute, aren't they?  I just cut a green candy melt in half to use as the apple leaves.

A is for Apple Rice Krispie Pops

That's it.  I individually wrapped the Iron Man pops in little baggies. Very easy to transport!  I think it took me so long because of my trials and errors (including an extra trip to the grocery store) - and getting rid of those darn tongue tattoos!  But the final product is very exciting to a 5 year old. 

Good Luck!

P.S.  I didn't have it in me to create another 2 dozen pops for my son's home birthday party, so we made simple Iron Man cupcakes with a yellow/red swirl icing (Hello Cupcake! is a great book for decorating tips and tricks).  We even made the little confetti cupcake topper.  Super easy craft that both of my kids enjoyed.  I'll post those instructions in another thread.

Iron Man party cupcakes

-Rose @-}---