Ultimate Rocky Road

I had intended to post this before Christmas but of course as usual I got caught up with the rush and bustle of the season. That plus my son's Christening on boxing day and his 1st Birthday on the 27th meant I was three times as busy! However I had to post this recipe as it is too good to miss out on.... so better late than never, my Ultimate Rocky Road.

Ultimate Rocky Road

I couldn’t decide whether to call this ‘Ultimate Rocky Road’ or ‘Million Calorie Rocky Road’! This really is for special occasions when only chocolate will do – perfect for Christmas, the season of over indulging! The inspiration for using all of the chocolate bars came from the recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, however I changed the rest of the recipe to suit my tastes and what I consider to more of a rocky road. I’ve suggested using Double Deckers (available in the UK), Snickers, Mars bars and Crunchies, however feel free to change the chocolate bars to whatever you like – mini Rolo’s and Turkish Delight are both on my list to try next!

These also make lovely edible gifts, especially if you package them nicely. Either put some squares in a clear bag and tie with ribbon and if you want add a sprig of holly, or if you can find some mini loaf tin wrappers and make individual Rocky Road bars – a perfect, personal and delicious gift!

*A little tip – I don’t recommend using Cadbury’s chocolate for this recipe. I tried it and despite using very low heat it didn’t melt smoothly and turned into a horrible, gritty mess! After a little searching on the internet I discovered that apparently Cadbury’s milk chocolate is designed to melt in the mouth and won’t stand up to any sort of high temperature! (I’m not sure if they are using a new recipe as I used to use Cadbury’s all of the time without any problems.....)

2 Double Deckers

2 Snickers

2 Mars bars

2 Crunchies

135g Maltesers

100g glace cherries

100g dried cranberries

100g digestive biscuits

100g mini marshmallows

600g milk chocolate

150g butter

4 tbsp golden syrup

Edible glitter and edible gold stars to decorate (optional but so pretty and Christmassy!)

Line a rectangular baking tray (with deep sides) with baking parchment (or alternatively use little individual loaf cases – available from specialist cook shops or Lakeland).

Chop up all of the chocolate bars into small pieces (I cut them into small slices then each slice in half) then add to a large bowl. Roughly chop the maltesers and add to the rest of the chocolate bars. Do the same with the cherries and add to the bowl along with the dried cranberries. Break up the digestive biscuits into small pieces (I like a mixture of sizes and some crushed up rubble as well) and add to the rest of the ingredients then finish by adding the mini marshmallows. Stir everything together so that it’s well mixed the set aside.

In a separate bowl add the chocolate, butter and syrup. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and gently melt everything together until smooth and evenly melted. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool for a few minutes before adding to the bowl of ingredients. Stir really well so that everything is covered in the chocolate then pour the mix into the lined baking tray and press down with a spatula or the back of the spoon. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight if you wait that long.

Once set, tip the rocky road upside down to remove from the tray and put onto a chopping board. Sprinkle over the glitter and stars if using, then cut into squares or rectangles.