Photograph of Festive Rocky Road
Cakes,  Cakes and Cookies,  Recipes,  Slices

Festive Rocky Road

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Loaded with milk and dark chocolate, crunchy, crispy, almond amaretti, soft sweet marshmallow, and studded with luscious red glacé cherries and green, crispy pistachio nuts, these addictive seasonal Rocky Road Slices are a colourful treasure chest of festive flavour and texture.

You can use homemade crispy amaretto biscuits in this slice, or for ease, use shop bought. Both add a wonderfully crunchy almond flavour and texture. If you are allergic to nuts, use your favourite crunchy cookie.

Photograph of Crispy Amaretti
Crispy Amaretti

Where is this recipe from?

Adapted from Nigella’s Christmas Rocky Road, you can play around with the ingredients to suit your taste. Change or omit the nuts, add raisins or sultanas instead of cherries, use different biscuits. Totally your choice but do remember to vary the textures, flavours and ideally, the colours too.

How to make this wonderful Festive Rocky Road

Collect all your ingredients together and line the baking tin:

In order to guarantee the slices are the correct depth and thickness, it is important to use the correct size tin – in this case it is a 20cm/8inch square tin. 

  1. Sit the tin on greaseproof paper making sure the paper is large enough to line the tin, come up the sides and have a little overhang.
  2. Cut out the corners of the paper so it will fit easily into the tin
  3. Fold the paper from corner to corner so the size of the centre of the paper matches the base of the tin. Slot inside the tin.

Ingredients for the slice:

  • chocolate, dark, milk or white, broken into squares – I used a mix of milk chocolate and dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
  • unsalted butter
  • golden syrup (or use corn syrup)
  • fine salt
  • crispy amaretti biscuits, chopped/broken, homemade or shop bought
  • shelled, unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
  • glacé cherries/candied cherries, halved
  • mini marshmallows
Topping:
  • milk chocolate, I use Cadburys
  • sea salt flakes, optional

Now make these wonderful festive treats:

  1. Break the chocolate into squares and heat with the cubed butter, syrup and salt in a large saucepan over a low heat. Stir very regularly and take off the heat, as soon as everything has melted.
  2. Meanwhile, roughly chop or break the amaretti biscuits, halve the cherries and roughly chop the pistachio nuts.
  3. Stir the broken amaretti biscuits, pistachios, cherries and mini marshmallows into the melted chocolate and butter mix. Mix thoroughly.
  4. Tip into a lined 20cm/8in square baking tin. Level the surface, pressing down to compact the mixture.
  5. Break the remaining milk chocolate into pieces or blitz in a food processor and then melt in a microwave or bain marie. (See Recipe Notes for details.)
  6. Spread the chocolate over the top of the rocky road and, if using, sprinkle over some sea salt flakes. I like to put a pinch of salt roughly in the centre of each slice.
  7. Set aside to cool, slice into 16 squares and devour.
  8. For a firm texture, store in an airtight container in the fridge. For a softer texture, store at room temperature.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.

Festive Rocky Road

Loaded with milk and dark chocolate, crunchy, crispy, almond amaretti, soft sweet marshmallow, and studded with luscious red glacé cherries and green, crispy pistachio nuts, these addictive seasonal Rocky Road Slices are a colourful treasure chest of festive flavour and texture.

Makes 16

Course afternoon tea, Morning Coffee, treat
Keyword amaretti biscuits, Chocolate, glacé cherries, mini marshmallows, pistachio nuts
Prep Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the slice:

  • 250g chocolate, dark, milk or white, broken into squares – I used 150g milk chocolate and 100g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
  • 110g unsalted butter
  • 50g golden syrup (or use corn syrup)
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • 90g crispy amaretti biscuits, chopped/broken, homemade or shop bought
  • 75g shelled, unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 75g glacé cherries/candied cherries, halved
  • 50g mini marshmallows

Topping:

  • 200g milk chocolate, I use Cadburys
  • sea salt flakes, optional

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Line a 20cm/8in square baking tin with baking parchment.

  3. Break the chocolate into squares and heat with the cubed butter, syrup and salt in a large saucepan over a low heat. Stir very regularly and take off the heat, as soon as everything has melted.

  4. Meanwhile, roughly chop or break the amaretti biscuits, halve the cherries and roughly chop the pistachio nuts.

  5. Stir the broken amaretti biscuits, pistachios, cherries and mini marshmallows into the melted chocolate and butter mix. Mix thoroughly.

  6. Tip into a lined 20cm/8in square baking tin. Level the surface, pressing down to compact the mixture.

  7. Break the remaining milk chocolate into pieces or blitz in a food processor and then melt in a microwave or bain marie. (See Recipe Notes for details.)

  8. Spread the chocolate over the top of the rocky road and, if using, sprinkle over some sea salt flakes. I like to put a pinch of salt roughly in the centre of each slice.

  9. Set aside to cool, slice into 16 squares and devour.

  10. For a firm texture, store in an airtight container in the fridge. For a softer texture, store at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

Equipment

  • Kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • Large saucepan
  • Chopping board and knife
  • Microwave safe jug or heatproof bowl
  • 20cm/8inch square baking tin lined with baking parchment

Be very careful melting the chocolate. Chocolate can be very difficult to work with. You can overheat it very easily and the mixture will go grainy. When this happens, there is no way to resolve it I’m afraid!

Microwave: I give the chocolate a minute in the microwave, take it out and stir it well, then let it sit for a few minutes to see if it continues melting sufficiently to melt all the chocolate. If not, I then continue with the microwave but in 10 – 15 second bursts.

Bain Marie: if you do not have a microwave, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Heat until the chocolate is very nearly melted then take it off the heat and take the bowl off the saucepan. Be very careful not to burn yourself as the bowl will be hot and steam will escape from the saucepan. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes for the residual heat to melt the remainder of the mixture. Again, be careful not to over-heat.

Where is this recipe from?

Adapted from Nigella’s Christmas Rocky Road, you can play around with the ingredients to suit your taste. Change or omit the nuts, add raisins or sultanas instead of cherries, use different biscuits. Totally your choice but do remember to vary the textures, flavours and ideally, the colours too.

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