White Christmas Rocky Road

Dear friends, consider this your official notice. White Christmas Rocky Road is my go-to food gift this year! Festive sweet-meets-nutty-chocolatey bliss that delivers maximum “homemade magic” vibes with minimal effort. Really, I just melted some chocolate!

After regular chocolate rocky road? Find it here!

White Christmas Rocky Road

I’ve tinkered with a Christmassy-looking White Rocky Road for years but was never quite happy. The colours weren’t festive enough, the add-ins combo could’ve been better, and one year I even skipped the marshmallows (pink didn’t feel “festive”!) and overloaded it with nuts and fruit. It ended up tasting like a white chocolate Christmas cake. Not my finest moment!

I also learned you can have too much chocolate in rocky road. If there isn’t enough “stuff”, you basically end up biting into thick slabs of white chocolate. It’s very…sweet. And full on!

Who knew there was such an art to rocky road? We all think it’s just “melt chocolate, throw in things!”, but it turns out there’s a bit more to it.

My one trick – a smidge of oil in the melted chocolate so it slices without cracking. It also loosens the melted chocolate so it coats everything nicely so the surface sets smoothly. 🙂

Ingredients in White Christmas Rocky Road

Here’s what I put into my White Christmas Rocky Road. My goal – festive colours! Red cherries, green pistachios, white chocolate, marshmallows and coconut (don’t skip this!). Feel free to switch it with what you like / have – you need 4 1/2 cups in total.

• White chocolate – I just use melts (discs) for ease, but you could totally upgrade to block. If Lindt white chocolate is on sale, that’s what I reach for.

  Note: melts are designed for easy melting but chips melt fine too. If using a block, chop it finely. Just don’t use eating chocolate from the confectionary aisle as it doesn’t melt smoothly (they are designed to not melt in the glove box of your car on hot summer days!). The on exception is Lindt white chocolate (it’s tempered and as brilliant for cooking as it is for eating).

• Glacé cherries – My festive pops of red! More red than dried cranberries which I’ve also used. I also like the texture which is soft rather than chewy like dried fruit, and it goes so well with the coconut! I really like it.

• Pistachios – My nut of choice for the little green colour, but also, everybody knows pistachios are fancier than other nuts. 😉 Christmas worthy!

  Bonus: no need to chop them, they are small enough. But I do insist on roasting. It brings out the flavour soooo much, especially if yours are not nut-farm-fresh (mine are not! #PistachioTreeGoals).

• Marshmallows – As noted above, I made the mistake of skipping this and I regretted it. They add bulk without weighing the rocky road down. You need the soft-fluffiness to break up the formidable amount of chocolate in rocky road!

  Size – I use regular size ones from regular grocery stores, ~3cm / 1.2″ wide, then I cut most in half and keep some whole (I am very particular about this, don’t question me! 🤣). If using larger ones, cut into appropriate sizes. If using minis, you probably don’t need to cut.

• Desiccated coconut – You can’t see it but everybody loves that it’s in there!! Coconut adds distinct “rocky road flavour” and I can’t believe I tried leaving it out once. It’s just not the same!

Well, that was a little more writing than expected. I supposed it shouldn’t shock anyone I had plenty to say even about something as simple as rocky road! 😃

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How to make White Christmas Rocky Road

Melt chocolate, dump everything in, set in fridge!

1. Cut most of the marshmallows in half (~ 2/3). I use a knife as I do multiple in one go, but I know most people instinctively reach for scissors.

2. Melt the chocolate with the oil in the microwave in bursts, stirring in between. For this volume of chocolate, I do 2 x 30 seconds to get it going, then 3 – 4 x 20 seconds, at the default microwave high power (ie I don’t reduce the power).

   PS Have I mentioned before I stir with a chopstick? Moves the chocolate around easily with less surface area for chocolate to stick to!
   PPS You can also melt chocolate using a double-boiler (set the bowl over simmering water).

3. Everything in – Once the chocolate is smooth, put all the add-ins in and mix until well coated.

4. Pan – Pour into a paper lined 20cm/8″ pan. Coax into the corners with a spatular then bang on the counter firmly to make everything settle and even the surface.

   TOPPINGS – Oh! I forgot to mention, I reserve some cherries and pistachios to decorate the top of the rocky road. Just because, well, you know. Christmas. Special! I don’t do this for regular Rocky Road. 😁

5. Set in the fridge for 3 hours. Don’t cover it with cling wrap – the warm chocolate will cause condensation and water will drip onto your rocky road. Nobody wants a watery rocky road!

6. Cut into desired pieces. My default is to cut into 5 strips, then into sizes appropriate for intended purposes – either squares (for piling onto a plate to share, small gifts), small logs (each strip in half or thirds) or large “nougat-size” bars for gifting with impact (and I’ll choose the prettiest bars with the cherries in the perfect position!).

Cut and gift with pride – or keep for yourself! Lasts for weeks and weeks.

Oh, also, when you cut, you will be happy we added that little smidge of oil in! Without, the chocolate is rock hard so you’d need a big sharp knife and a little *grunt* to cut through it (literally, not just figuratively speaking). Rocky Road is formidable, it is not a dainty one-bite handmade artisan chocolate truffle. It has heft, it’s colourful and loud and opinionated and slightly unhinged and gloriously over the top.

And we love it, just as it is! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

Life of Dozer

Festive season means parties and events!! Here is the order of events when I get home:

1. Kick heels off.

2. Go straight into Dozer-smother-mode.

He’d like everyone to know he endures these Christmas cuddle-attacks purely for the snacks afterwards!