UW-Madison students can bite into the world’s largest Rice Krispies Treat as the student organization, Project Freshman 15,000, attempts to hit the Guinness Book of World Records’ sweet spot for the title.
Joseph Tarnowski and other organization members will attempt to bake a world record-breaking 15,000-pound Rice Krispies Treat April 10 and 11. The organization will then sell pieces of the dessert April 12.
Despite its massive scale, the idea for this project started small in a UW-Madison residence hall.
“Last year, some friends in my dorm and I built a 14-pound Rice Krispies Treat,” Tarnowski said. “Then someone suggested we try to break a world record. It started as a joke, but eventually we started a student organization. It was a spontaneous challenge that we just accepted.”
Creating the treat will require extensive preparation, needing about 100 volunteers at all times to help cook. Each cooking station will melt marshmallows and butter into bowls of boiling water. Those bowls will then be mixed with Rice Krispies cereal and poured into larger bowls.
“Whoever wants to show up and help us out, can,” Tarnowski said.
The organization is receiving donated ingredients for the project, including 5,500 pounds of Rice Krispies cereal, 9,000 pounds of marshmallows and 850 pounds of butter.
“Hopefully a lot of people show up, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Tarnowski said.
After the Rice Krispies treat is complete, leftovers will be sold through order forms the organization is now distributing. Some of the money will cover the organization’s costs, while the remaining profits will go toward local charities focused on education. They said they are hoping to hold the event at Engineering Park.
