Every year I cook something as a Christmas gift for family and friends. My daughter usually helps, and we spend a fun couple of hours baking and wrapping. Last year we made snickerdoodles, those lovely cinnamon and sugar encrusted butter cookers, but this year I’m toying with the idea of making rocky road instead.
Although rocky road is hugely appealing to kids I actually think of it more as an adult’s chocolate treat. It’s perfect to accompany a cup of coffee, to snatch between errands, or to treat yourself after dinner.
However, rocky road is full of sugar so if you’re the type that has 10 different recipes for no-sugar fruit balls, then this is not the recipe for you. Look away, and visit again another day when I am cooking something healthy.
The quantities below make enough for 21 muffin cups, which is enough for three Christmas gifts assuming seven pieces per gift.
If I was making it for a children’s party I would make 60-70 pieces and serve them in mini cupcake cups. I may be relaxed about my kids having some sugar but I’m not certifiable.
INGREDIENTS
1 x 100 packet mini marshmallows
275 grams dark chocolate buttons
200 grams blanched raw peanuts, minus the ones you eat in the car on the way home from the market
METHOD
Melt chocolate slowly on the stove using a double boiler or a bowl in a saucepan of water. Make sure no water gets into the bowl or you’ll have to chuck it out and start again. Meanwhile, roughly chop the peanuts.
Once the chocolate is melted pour it into a large mixing bowl along with the peanuts and marshmallows. Mix thoroughly. The marshmallows will start to melt a little but this is not a problem.
Using two tablespoons, drop balls of the chocolate mixture onto a tray covered with baking paper. Use the spoons to manipulate the gooey mess into a roundish shape.
Refrigerate until set and then serve in red and white muffin cups for a lovely Christmas gift (I used two pieces for each cup for the photos below).
If you wanted to do something extra special you could buy Chinese steamers to present the rocky road in and wrap them with a gorgeous red ribbon. I would have wrapped the steamer below but that would have meant leaving the kids alone with the rocky road for a minute and that wouldn’t have been sensible.
