Skip to main content

Christmas Countdown 6: Rocky Road


Hardly a traditional Christmas food, but somehow rocky road is one of those indulgent sweet treats I associate with Christmas.  It is definitely one recipe always included in a list of edible Christmas gifts. Rocky Road apparently got its name when William Dreyer cut up marshmallows and nuts and swirled them into chocolate ice cream in 1929, resembling his partner's chocolate bar invention. The company then gave it its name, something to smile about during the Great Depression. Rocky Road  = Hard Times. If the alleged story is true, I think William Dreyer was travelling on a "rocky road" as it is said he used his wife's dressmaking scissors to cut up the ingredients for his rocky road treat.  


I like rocky road just cut into bite sized pieces ( please use the kitchen scissors!), but at Christmas, rocky road in the shape of trees, wreaths, little houses and stars have become very popular.





Christmas Rocky Road variations make this sweet treat look even more festive  and take it to gourmet status with the addition of turkish delight, pistachio nuts  or macadamia  nuts and dried cranberries or raisins.  Sometimes white chocolate is used instead of milk chocolate, and rocky road takes on a "white" Christmas look.  It can be a little sickly sweet, but making rocky road into a slice by adding plain biscuits or pretzels seems to tone down its sweetness. My best friend always makes me some rocky road slice for Christmas and I admit that I don't make it myself because it is just special to have it gifted to me.  Here is a basic recipe for a quick and easy rocky road slice ...  add your own Christmas ingredients to make it special... 

500 g milk cooking chocolate, ( melted)
250 g of plain biscuits like Milk Coffee  ( roughly chopped into small pieces)
100 g marshmallows ( chopped )
100 g red glace cherries ( halved)

 Melt the chocolate and add the other ingredients. Mix thoroughly and spread in a flat pan. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set, and slice into pieces.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Too Precious to Waste

 Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons  More than a year ago, a decision was made.  The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2]  A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

May I Present Mrs Chalumeau...

Finally Mrs Chalumeau takes a bow …She is a Pearly Queen … 695 buttons on the doll and 10 on the journal.(I think – could be more). I would like to thank Paula from Antiques and Collectables here in Hamilton, Newcastle and Raku Buttons ETSY seller for supplying me with about 500 of the vintage mother of pearl buttons, and the rest I had in my stash. I think they look great on my pearly queen, but I am truly tired of sewing on buttons. It made me think however, how many buttons must be on the elaborate clothes of the real pearly Kings and Queens! I drew my inspiration from the lovely lady pictured here, and the following description from Wikipedia. ... A Pearly King ( feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional Cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometimes representing much of a family's wealth. .... This doll is all cloth – a little different from most of my other dolls which generally h