Rocky Road

I make Christmas presents every year.

I've found that, personally, if I really want something, I just go and buy it. If I can't afford it, I learn to live without it, or I buy an inferior substitute. Nobody can choose a present better for me than I can for myself. Except, when it is a present that is the gift of their time, thought and effort. I really hope all my friends and family feel the same way, because I spend time, not money on my gifts to them.

Sarah Walton Hedonista Rocky Road is very very rare - you have to be one of my nearest and dearest, or have to have performed some amazing task (ie teaching my kids for a year) to get it. The recipe changes annually, depending on the best stuff I can find to put in it, but there is always a basic formula - chocolate with nuts, coconut, jellies (not jam) and marshmallows.

Ingredients:

• 500g chocolate (I like half milk, half dark)
• 50g butter
• 1 cup chopped marshmallows
• 1 cup red jellies (I used these because they have a very fruity flavour)
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup dessicated coconut

Instructions:

1. Melt chocolate in microwave or bain marie, then stir in butter until smooth. 
2. Add all other ingredients except coconut, and combine well
3. Pour into a tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle coconut on top, and flatten with another sheet of baking paper on top, then refrigerate until hard

I cut into inch-sized blocks, but whatever floats your boat. You can also mess with all the ingredients in range and quantity, except for the chocolate and butter. It tastes great with rice bubbles, fresh raspberries (but has to be eaten that day), dried fruits, broken biscuits and turkish delight for example. Have fun!