Sweet and Salty Rocky Road

I remember the day when I discovered that marshmellowy divine gooeyness that is Rocky Road. It’s something that I loved immediately, one of the reasons being of course, that it was so easy and quick to make. The *only* thing that I didn’t like was that it had to sit in the fridge to set for a few hours. But boy oh boy was my patience rewarded from that first bite. My many trips to the gym hasn’t made a big difference in deterring that bit of extra weight but that hasn’t prevented me from making them again and again. OK…one *again* is enough!

That was a few years ago. More recently I discovered another jewel in the crown: Nigella’s sweet and salty nut crunch bars. Now if I were to choose, most probably I would go for the salty stuff, even if it’s not that good for you. J says that I’m the personification of contradiction, if that could really exist. I love baking anything sweet, but when it comes to taste I do favour the odd bit of cheese. So unashamedly I confirm once more the fact that I can easily eat a whole tin of anchovies with some bread given the freedom to do that. Unfortunately I don’t have that anymore! What I can say is that this recipe satisfies both the sweet and savoury palate and I really don’t know what can be easier than this. I made these babies again a few days ago and they are waiting for me…*cough*…us quietly in the cold. And since I conveniently forgot all about them until now, I’m having a piece, thank you very much. Please don’t judge me! I won’t do that to you if you try making these. One piece of advice though – they are addictive so go slow.

So the easiest recipe in the world goes something like this:

200g dark chocolate, broken into cubes
100g milk chocolate, also broken into cubes
125g butter, unsalted and make sure it’s soft
45ml golden syrup (3 tablespoons, heaped)
200g peanuts, salted
4 Crunchie bars (40g each)

Line a standard round cake tin with kitchen foil, or use a foil tin. Whatever you prefer.
In a saucepan (preferably with a heavy base) tip the broken chocolate, the soft butter and golden syrup, and place these over a low heat. When the chocolate has melted completely remove the pan from the heat. Now add the salted peanuts.
To crush the Crunchie bars, place them into a piece of kitchen foil, grab a rolling pin and bash them with it, till you have some bits that are rubble and some that are relatively whole, but not quite. (I’m sure you get me here!)
Add the Crunchies into the melted chocolate concoction and stir everything together. All you have to do now is to pour the mixture into the cake tin and press it down with a spatula or something flat.
Place in the fridge and let it set for around four hours. I’ve tried to make the waiting time a bit less, but unfortunately it doesn’t work…

Enjoy making and eating these, and don’t forget to send me some!

Rob x