Frozen Rocky Road (LF)

Frozen Rocky Road is a recipe I made up as a quick dairy free dessert for Christmas this year. Having moved away from where our families live, we always have to travel to be with them for Christmas so when my sister suggested I make a dessert to contribute to the Christmas feast I said "sure" and quickly put my thoughts into what I could easily make in my mum's not so well equipped kitchen on short notice. Then 'BOOM!'  Frozen Rocky Road was born. It's chocolate frozen goodness with chewy dried fruit, crunchy hokey pokey(honeycomb) chunks and nutty nuts. Delicious!

Frozen Rocky Road

INGREDIENTS:
5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
200 g dairy-free chocolate
90g blanched almonds
90g shelled pistachios
150g margarine
85g dried cranberries
100g dried apricots


METHOD:
Lay a silicon mat onto a cookie sheet and brush with vegetable oil.
Melt sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat.
When sugar mix is 115 degrees celcius or is a caramel gold colour turn the heat up to high.
Quickly whisk in the baking soda and pour mixture onto prepared silicon mat.
 

Hokey Pokey (Honeycomb)

 Let it cool for 30 minutes, remove the hokey pokey from the tray and chop into chunk sized pieces.

Hokey Pokey Chunks

Line a loaf tin with at least 4 layers of cling film, ensuring it overhangs the sides of the tin enough to cover over the mix when it's full.
Chop up the almonds and pistachios then mix together with cranberries and apricots. Set aside.

Dried Fruit

Chopped Almonds

Break up the chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Add margarine to chocolate and stir together until melted together.

Chocolate & Margarine Mix

 
Take off the heat and add the chopped nuts and dried fruit.

Rocky Road Mix

Spoon and press into prepared loaf tin.
Fold overhanging cling film over the rocky road mix.

Rocky Road Mix Set in Loaf Tin

Freeze overnight or at least 6 hours.
Remove frozen rocky road from tin, unwrap cling film and cut into slices.
Serve with fresh summer fruit like strawberries and raspberries.

Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks:
- Work quickly once you add the baking soda to the sugar mix when making the hokey pokey otherwise you may end up with a sticky claggy mess in your pot to clean up.

-If you do end up with a sticky hard goo in your pot or on your utensils just rinse it hot water and the mix will dissolve off.

-Keep a large glass of hot water handy whilst making the hokey pokey so you can easily dissolve the sugar mix off your thermometer in between measuring and stirring.

-Make sure your silicon mat is brushed well with vegetable oil so the hokey pokey easily slides off. Baking paper is not a good alternative.

-Once the frozen rocky road is set; the slices can be kept in the fridge sif you prefer the slices to be firm but nit rock hard.