Rocky Road

I have always been a huge fan of rocky road. There are three reasons why it is one of my favourite things to make and eat… One, it contains all of my favourite ingredients, sticky glace cherries, soft marshmallows, crunchy biscuit, and bitter dark chocolate. Two, it is a recipe that is so easy to vary up – take out the marshmallows if making for a veggie, swap in some nuts or chunks of fudge. Three, it is so easy to make, with no actual baking required. So here it is, the recipe for rocky road, just the way I like it…

Ingredients
a large bar of dark chocolate
3tbsp golden syrup
140g margarine
a bag of mini marshmallows
200g digestive biscuits
a tub of glace cherries

Method
Place the biscuits in a large mixing bowl and bash with the end of a wooden rolling pin (or similar tool) until they are ground into small pieces. Tip in the marshmallows and glace cherries and mix together. Break up the chocolate and put it in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, along with the butter and golden syrup. Melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so, so that the mixture doesn’t burn. Once the chocolate, butter, and syrup mixture is melted, pour it over the dry ingredients and mix together. Tip the combined mixture into a shallow tin lined with greaseproof paper, and leave in the fridge to set. Once the mixture has hardened, turn out onto a chopping board and cut into squares.

 

Coconut traybake

Mr Stanton works alternate weekends, meaning I have every other weekend to myself to bake, craft and write. After a long week at work, however, I don’t always fancy spending hours in the kitchen. This bake is the best of both worlds – five ingredients, twenty five minutes in the oven, and then it’s ready to chop into squares and enjoy with a cup of tea. A Saturday night treat, while my husband and I relax together, and catch up on the week’s telly…

 

Ingredients
a tub of glace cherries
a bar of white chocolate
a bag and a half of desiccated coconut (roughly 200g)
85g caster sugar
two eggs

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a deep tray with greaseproof paper. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, pour it into the prepared tray and press down with the back of a spoon. Bake for twenty-five minutes of until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin, then tip out and portion into squares. Then it is ready to enjoy – it is really is as easy as that!