Mars Bar Mini Puddings

Who doesn’t love Mars Bar Krispie Treats? We certainly do! And what’s better than that? These cute little Christmas puddin’s! This is a fun one to make with the kids and they make lovely gifts. If you don’t have the patience to cut out fondant holly leaves and roll little berries, you can also find ready-made royal icing holly leaf toppers in most grocery stores in the baking aisle.

These will make 24-36 puddings depending if you make them single or two-bite puddings. 

For the puddings

• 200g Mars bars, cut into pieces
• 100g unsalted butter
• 125g puffed rice cereal

To decorate

• 50-100g white chocolate (depending on how many puddings you make)
• Small piece Green fondant
• Small piece Red fondant (or red sugar pearls)
• Cornflour, for dusting

1. Set a heat-proof bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, then place Mars bar pieces and butter in the bowl. Melt slowly over low heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Once butter has completely melted, switch to a whisk. Continue stirring until the chocolate and nougat has melted and the mixture is smooth, you may need to whisk vigorously for about a minute to help everything come together. Tip: It’s important to use a whisk as this helps make an amalgamation of the butter, chocolate and nougat.
3. Remove from heat then pour chocolate mixture over puffed rice cereal in a large bowl. Stir with a large spoon until all of the puffed rice has been coated in the chocolate mixture.
4. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes, just until it is cool enough to handle.
5. Use a spoon to scoop some of the rice mixture then roll into a small ball between the palms of your hands. Tip: We recommend using food-safe gloves for less mess!
6. Arrange rolled puddings on a tray or place them in mini cupcake papers then leave to cool completely before decorating.
7. While puddings are cooling and setting you can start on the fondant holly leaves and berries.
8. Knead green fondant well until smooth and pliable, dust your hands with cornflour if the fondant starts to stick to them.
9. Dust a board with cornflour then use a rolling pin to roll out fondant to about 2mm thick. Use holly leaf shaped cutters to cut out leaves, alternatively, cut out little leaf shapes with a small sharp knife. You can use the tip of a plain round piping nozzle or any cutter with a suitable shape to trim away little pieces of the leaves to get the spiky holly leaf shape. Set aside until needed.
10. Knead red fondant well until smooth and pliable, again, dusting your hands with cornflour if needed.
11. Pinch off small pieces of fondant and roll into small holly berries. Set aside until needed.
12. To decorate the puddings, melt white chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of steaming water.
13. Drop a teaspoon of melted white chocolate on top of each little pudding, allowing it to gently run down the sides like icing.
14. While the chocolate is still wet, stick 2-3 holly leaves on top of each pudding along with 2 or 3 berries. Leave to set at room temperature or in the fridge.
15. Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 5 days.