Phoodie Friday 14 September 2012 11:01am

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Rocky Road

by PHOODIE

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”…..Yes or no?!

Whenever I cook I feel the need to throw myself into the pan. Figuratively speaking, of course. Whether I’m meant to be strictly following a recipe or attempting to simply copy something I’ve watched my grandmother make for 3000 years, I feel the need to make my version original.

Sometimes that means cooking whatever it is for a longer / shorter amount of time, sometimes it means leaving out selected ingredients and sometimes it means adding in loads of things that have never been used before in that particular dish.

Phoodie

Originality is good. But is it better? Where does my desire to be creative come from? Am I simply seeing if I can improve on the old classic or am I being arrogant and wanting my version to be the best? The one everyone loves the most. The one that people will remember.

Whatever the case, over the years with regards to recipes, I have learnt that the answer to the question “Is the original version the best?” isn’t purely “Yes” or “No”. The answer is actually “Sometimes”. Sometimes the original is better and sometimes the variations are better. However, to further confuse matters, often, people will disagree about what is better and what is not. Our tastebuds all have different opinions!

To get the conversation going, I’ve cooked Rocky Road 3 ways (Original, White Chocolate Cookies and Cream and Mint Chunk.) I want you to have a look at the pictures, imagine the flavour combinations in your head and tell me which one you think is the best!? And why! I know what I think…..

Looks good right?

RECIPE 1: Phoodie’s ‘Original’ Rocky Road  (See gallery for step by step pictures)

Ingredients (makes approx. 30 pieces)

2 cups mini white and pink marshmallows

350 grams roasted, unsalted peanuts

1 cup desiccated coconut

400 grams dark chocolate

Method

1) Place the marshmallows in a large bowl.

2) Crush the peanuts using a rolling pin. Roll by applying pressure to the heel of your hand. Don’t be crazy, “kinda crushed” is fine. They will all be different sizes. Breathe. That’s ok. Add these to the marshmallows.

3) Scatter the coconut evenly on a baking paper lined tray. Place in oven at 180 deg. cel. for approx 1 minute. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THIS or it will definitely burn. You want the coconut to turn a light golden brown colour. Once done, add this to marshmallows and peanuts.

4) Melt your chocolate on the stove over a medium heat, stirring the entire time so that chocolate does not burn or stick to the base of the pan. Once thick, glossy and completely melted, pour over marshmallows, nuts and coconut and quickly mix everything together.

5) Transfer this mixture to your pre-prepared baking paper lined dish. Place dish in fridge to set.

6) Look at your feet and count the spots on your shoes, and by the time you’ve done this, the rocky road will have set. If you do not have spots on your shoes, look at the picture of my shoes, and count the spots on those. It is definitely preferable to leave the rocky road in the fridge for at least an hour as the more set it is, the easier it is to cut, but if you are in a hurry, it honestly does set in minus one second.

7) Remove from fridge and cut into slabs and then into pieces. ENJOY!

Marshmallows

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RECIPE 2: Phoodie’s White Chocolate Cookies and Cream Rocky Road (See picture in gallery and for more pictures and a step by step walk through, click the link below)

RECIPE 3: Phoodie’s Mint Chunk Rocky Road (See picture in gallery and for more pictures and a step by step walk through, click the link below)

Do you change recipes? Do you add and subtract ingredients? What dishes have you made and experimented with, but wish you hadn’t?! Do you have any cooking questions that you want to ask Phoodie? If so, fire away!

After graduating from high school, Phoodie studied Interior Architecture at UNSW. She worked for several years as a designer before having the courage to throw caution to the wind and run, very, very fast to the Le Cordon Bleu cookery school in London. She is a cookbook, restaturant, and all round food-obsessed blogger and Mum of 2. She can be found posting recipes here, tweeting here, or on Facebook here.

And for more recipe ideas, head over to our sister site iVillage.com.au