Candy Trains ~ Ashley Nelson (this is for 3 train cars)

 Materials needed:

*foil-covered cardboard or other hard surface to build the train on (about 18 inches long & 6 inches wide)

*6 sticks of licorice (any flavor)

*4 Snickers Bars

*12 round Peppermint Candies

*1 gummy orange slice candy

*2 Rolos

*12-16 M&M candies

*12-14 small Tootsie Rolls

*2 large candy canes

*tape

*1 Santa ornament (optional)

 

Royal Icing Ingredients 

*3 egg whites

*1 pound powdered sugar

*1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1. Unwrap all the candy (except the candy canes). Cover cardboard in foil & tape so it won't come off. Make Royal Icing and put in decorating bag with small/medium decorating tip. Cover excess icing with damp cloth or in air-tight container. Use icing as "glue" to hold everything together. Start by "gluing" licorice to the foil to form the train tracks. Using the Snickers Bar as a guide, place each side of the licorice track on the glue, making sure they are no further apart than the width of the Snickers Bar. Next, glue & center 3 of the Snickers bars onto the train tracks, with about 2 inches between them. Glue the peppermint candies onto the Snickers bars so they look like wheels - 4 candies to a bar, 2 on each side. 

2. For the front car (the Engine), cut the other Snickers Bar in half and glue and stack each half on the back of the first car, with the cut side facing towards the back. You may need to hold the bars in place for a minute until the icing starts to harden. Glue the orange slice to the front of the car, making a grill for the train. Glue and stack the 2 Rolos on the top of the front of the car, to make a smoke stack {with icing coming out the top like smoke}. Cover the top and back of the stacked Snickers bars with icing, and then put M&Ms on the top and back to decorate.

3. For the middle car (the logs), spread icing on the top of the Snickers bar and then place about 5 Tootsie Rolls along it to look like logs. Add icing to that layer and stack more "logs" on top of it. I usually have 3 rows of Tootsie Rolls and then cover the top with frosting so it looks like it is covered in snow. 

4. For the last car (the sleigh), cover the top of the Snickers bar in icing, and place the candy canes on it - with the curved part towards the front - and a little bit of the straight part hanging off the back. It's very helpful to tape the candy canes together until the icing hardens a little bit, then you can remove the tape and they will stay in place. Glue the Santa ornament onto his sleigh, or place some other candy there—whatever you want. My Grandma even adds a little bag made of red tulle filled with tiny candy as his bag of toys.

5. Feel free to use whatever icing is left to make "patches" of "snow" around the train, and add other candy as wanted. You can make a fence from other tootsie rolls, or a path using life cereal, etc. This is really fun to do with kids - although you may need to be the one that holds the icing & applies it {it can get pretty messy}. The icing will harden within a few hours, and hold everything in place. It's completely edible and also fun to have as a decoration. My Grandma makes these every year and then covers them in saran wrap, and gives them to us the weekend after Thanksgiving. At our house, we kept it up until Christmas and then ate it, but some of my cousins ate it once they got home from Grandma's. Enjoy!