White Chocolate Rocky Road

Humans have fun with all sorts of naughty things, don’t they? Take that brown stuff called chocolate, for instance – they’re all crazy about it, and I’ve seen soooo many pictures of yummy chocolate cakes. But when you’re a parrot, you’re not allowed to have any – sigh….. And Mummy makes sure I never have any – it’s well hidden at the back of the fridge in a compartment that I’m not allowed to touch….

But surely I could try some white chocolate then, Mummy? No, not allowed to have that either :-(……Not even marshmallows – too much sugar!!! Talk about having strict parents…..

So, I’ll just stay here and play with my new toy

Luckily for me though, I can sample the pistachios, macadamias and cranberries…. You know where this is going don’t you? If not, I’ve got a few little clues for you – what looks really decadent, delicious and naughty, and involves white chocolate, marshmallows, pistachios, macadamias and cranberries? Yes, you’ve guessed it – it’s… White Chocolate Rocky Road!!!

Mummy says this doesn’t need too much of an introduction, as everybody should have fond childhood memories of it. This is an excellent idea as a Christmas treat, it’s really easy to make as there is no baking involved, and you can pretty much change the ingredients according to your own preferences. Or you can be really bold and experiment with various flavours or colour themes. Ours is bursting with fruit flavours (not all of them real, of course, but I don’t think anybody could claim there are any health benefits associated with eating rocky road – apart from that feeling of happiness, maybe J) and happy colours.

White Chocolate Rocky Road  (adapted from Australian GoodFood)

400g (approximately 1 lb) good quality white chocolate

50 g (1.7oz) pistachios, lightly toasted

50 g (1.7oz) macadamias

150g (5.3oz) multi coloured marshmallows

100 g (3.5oz) fruit flavoured, multi coloured jelly confectionery

100 g (3.5oz) dried cranberries

Line the base and sides of a 30 x 15 cm  (12 x 6in) baking tin with paper and set aside.

Roughly chop macadamias, marshmallows and confectionery and place in a glass or stainless steel bowl.  Add the toasted pistachios and cranberries and mix gently.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for approximately 45 – 50 seconds, then stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds then stir again. Repeat the process if necessary, until all the chocolate is evenly melted and has reached a relatively thin consistency.

Pour the melted chocolate over the fruit, nut and confectionery mixture and mix well to ensure all pieces are thoroughly covered in chocolate.

Pour into prepared tin and then level with a spatula.

Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours (preferably overnight), then remove from the fridge, place on a cutting board (the paper will be very easy to peel off) and cut into your desired shapes and sizes. This will keep very well for at least two weeks, though it will soften slightly at warm room temperature. If you have already started your Christmas baking and require a longer shelf life for your rocky road, this should be easily achieved by replacing the nuts with different types of dried fruit or confectionery.