This is my first ever rocky road!  But it’s delicious with the ‘gourmet’ and Easter stuff so I’m sharing it with you.  What convinced me was when I took some to a party recently and watched revellers repeatedly sneak up on the plate to nibble on a chunk, then another and another.  Felt quite pleased and proud of them.  Lol.  They’re a perfect way to use up extra mini chocolate eggs or sweet treats languishing about the house.  Which apparently is how they originated in Australia in 1853 – more about that later.  Rocky roads are now considered a classic American dessert made of chocolate and marshmallow with crunchy bits thrown in.  The extra gourmet French touches here are provided by the Valrhona or Lindt milk and dark chocolate, gavottes wafer biscuits, nougat, crispy chocolate balls, tonka or vanilla bean and fleur de sel special Brittany sea salt I happened to have!  Oh some Belgian Lotus speculoos biscuits also snuck in.  The Easter stuff is the result of a pre-holiday visit to mum in London, where like an Easter bunny on the rampage I gathered far too many Cadbury’s and Harrods mini chocolate eggs and bunnies.  But you can put almost anything in your own addictively delicious gourmet rocky road!  Any of your chocolate Easter eggs or other treats want to volunteer for action? 🙂

Gourmet rocky road

RECIPE

This recipe is an invention based on various rocky road recipes online.  I couldn’t find any with top-quality chocolate or flavourings like tonka or vanilla bean fleur de sel Brittany sea salt but why not mix gourmet stuff with Cadbury mini cream or oreo eggs?  And there’s a lot of flexibility for using any biscuits or nuts around the house.  You can vary the quantity of milk to dark chocolate according to taste.  And there’s the option of adding 2 tablespoons of honey when melting the chocolate or some dried fruit like cranberries.  I really recommend including the marshmallows though – the gooey fluff really makes this dessert along with the crunchy bits.  Anyway as long as you love the ingredients you’ll get some very delicious rocky road!

• 465g/16.3oz chocolate (mix of dark and milk, with some good-quality chocolate if possible)
• 100g/3.5oz butter (unsalted), can be replaced with vegan butter or margarine
• 2-3tbsp praline paste, optional
• 2 tbsp honey or other sweetener, optional (I didn’t use any)
• 138g/5oz nuts
• 115g/4oz biscuits (cookies) – crumbled Gavottes wafers; oreos and Lotus speculoos biscuits cut in quarters, etc
• 6 tbsp crispy chocolate balls, optional
• 100g/3.5oz marshmallows – mini or big ones each cut up into 6
• a few pieces of French nougat, optional
• 225g/8oz (or a jar) of colourful pieces of chocolate like crushed and halved mini Easter eggs, white chocolate, chocolate bunnies, etc.
• Other classic options:  glacé cherries, dessicated coconut, Turkish Delight and peanuts

Eating and storing

These should keep in the fridge up to 7-10 days.  Let them come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before eating.  They can also be wrapped tightly in plastic film or in tupperware to freeze.  Defrost overnight in the fridge or at room temperature 4 hours or so.

Sharing

They’re great for taking to a party!  I had my doubts as my friend said people would probably like savoury stuff with their drinks.  But the rocky roads proved very popular and disappeared pretty pronto…!  Wished I’d taken more.  They’re also excellent to nibble on at home.

Gourmet rocky road

History

According to the Wikipedia rocky road article many American companies claimed to have invented this dessert in the 19th century but the earliest mention was in 1853 in Australia where apparently it was created as a way to sell sweets that had spoiled during their long trip from Europe by mixing with local nuts and cheap chocolate to disguise the slightly off flavour.  Ahem.  This is in no way encouragement to use up your own stale sweeties but it’s interesting the original concept is indeed using leftover stuff.  Oh and the name supposedly comes from the rocky road that gold miners walked to reach their mining posts. Hard times with some spoiled but sweet dessert helping them keep going…

On that note it’s time to have a piece of gourmet rocky road!

Hope you’ve had a great long weekend and if you celebrate it a lovely Easter!

Farewell dear reader!  Wishing you a wonderful week ahead with some yummy treats! 🙂  Lili x