Rocky Road,a universal favourite and the simplest way to make it...

'All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt', said Charles M Schultz and I couldn't agree with him more! Topping a bar of chocolate would be a chocolate dessert or a slice of gooey chocolate cake.But you can easily have something in between and that something is the famous 'Rocky Road' a cross between chocolate, dessert , chocolate cake and everything else. 

My version, best served with an Espresso/Cappuccino

Historically, Rocky Road was invented in Australia in 1853 as a way of on-selling confectionery spoiled by the long journey from Europe. Gold miners in towns outside of Melbourne, such as Ballarat, were wealthy but uncultured. Cunning businessmen took advantage of these men, mixing the spoiled confectionery with low quality chocolate and other 'filler' ingredients, such as locally foraged nuts. The name Rocky Road is derived from the 'Rocky Road' travelers had to take to get to the gold fields.

That version of Rocky Road has come a very long way since and it has now developed into a fine art form, and is sometimes served in upmarket restaurants worldwide as a specialty dessert for people who will pay hundreds of dollars for it.

The main ingredients  in traditional Australian Rocky Road are marshmallows, dark or white milk chocolate,jelly,desiccated coconut,glace cherries,nuts, particularly peanuts,Turkish delight and strawberry sauce.

A minor variation is the American Rocky road and its main ingredients are marshmallows,milk chocolate,walnuts or almonds.The most popular version of Rocky Road in the U.S. is in ice cream form, which consists of chocolate ice cream, marshmallows (or sometimes a "marshmallow swirl"), and nuts. 

Here is my very simple and quick version of Rocky Road which will not take you more than  hour, which includes the preparation as well as the baking time.

All the ingredients neatly lined up 

Ingredients

4 bars of dark dessert/cooking chocolate

Half a bag of large white marshmallows

Vanilla essence to taste

Half a packet of small, dried figs

Half a pack of strawberries

Grated coconut to taste- I used about 500 gms for this entire batch

Peanuts to taste.

 Break chocolate into bits

 Melt over a pan of hot water, stir

 Mix all the ingredients into melted chocolate and stir gently

Pour the  mix on a greased baking tray and cover with grated coconut.

Bake at 150 c for about 25-30 mins or until done.

Cut into squares or shape into balls. Refrigerate till ready to serve and then bring out to the table. 

These are eaten best accompanied by an Espresso/Cappuccino  and if you want an added dash of fun, top with add a dollop of whipped cream/ice cream.