Sweet Sushi

My good friend Jennifer and her family have been waiting almost three years to adopt a sweet baby girl from China. I found this and thought I'd post it for her as an activity to make with her kids to sweeten the wait. Here's praying for good news SOON!

What do you get when you mix a little coconut, fruit leather and Swedish Fish? Your very own yummy plate of Sweet Sushi. Coming straight to you from FamilyFun.com, this treat is a lot of fun to make and if you haven’t had a chance to try this out, I think you’ll love it!

Here’s what you need:
Pound cake, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
White frosting
Fruit leather (Family Fun used FruitaBü Organic Smoooshed Grape Fruit Twirls)
Flaked coconut
An assortment of candies and jellies for sweet toppings and sushi sides

Step 1

Sushi bases: For rolls, use a knife to cut 1 1/2-inch circles from a slice of cake. Frost the tops of the circles, then wrap a 6-inch strip of fruit leather seaweed around each one, using a dab of frosting to secure it. Press coconut rice into the frosting. For individual sushi, cut a cake slice into rectangles and round the edges, as shown. Frost the top and sides of each oval, then roll it in coconut.
Step 2
Sweet toppings (Referring to top picture): From left to right, starting with the top row, Family Fun used orange nonpareils, apricot preserves, and pieces of Twizzlers Rainbow Twists. In the middle row, they used a green gumdrop slice, diced Swedish Fish, and gumdrop wedges. On the bottom row, they topped the sushi base with a Swedish Fish, then wrapped it with a strip of fruit leather.

Step 3

Sushi sides: Finally, to make wasabi, warm a green Starburst candy in the microwave for 10 seconds, then use your hands to work it into a mound. For pickled ginger, microwave and flatten an orange Starburst candy, then bunch it up into a pile, as shown.

Pretty creative, huh? Have you made Sweet Sushi before?