Christmas Cooking....Sweet and Salty Rocky Road Crunch

One thing I so love about Christmas is the opportunity to cook for others not just on Christmas day, but also to whip together little treats and give them as gifts. Each year I search for and make something new. I haven't quite found something that really has taken my liking so much that I can't stand it, but I did begin my whipping up of delights on Sunday. We were heading off to have a picnic up on the central coast with friends and I made some rocky road Christmas trees. Rocky Road is one of those things that could be likened to how different a curry is depending on which parts of India you are from. Rocky Road means different things to different people so there are many different recipes floating around the internet. Traditionally, I am told, Rocky Road was made with nuts, coconut, glazed cherries, and marshmallows. Personally I am not a fan of glazed cherries and I don't like how coconut stays in your teeth/molars for hours after you have consumed the chocolately goodness. So I don't add  that either. In replacement of the cherries I add raspberry lollies. I don't really replace the coconut per say. I tend to add whatever takes my fancy at the time. However, what my recipe always maintains is good quality Cadbury chocolate, nuts, and marshmallows. Those who consume my Rocky Road tell me its to die for, which I think is one of the best compliments a cook could ask for!

Today, I made something kinda like Rocky Road, but very different in more ways than one. It didn't have anything resembling a cherry or raspberry lolly. It does maintain the chocolate part and the marshmallow, but I decided to add a little crunch using Heath English Toffee Bits.

First of all, I do have to apologise to all my Aussie readers. To my knowledge, I don't believe you can purchase Heath English Toffee Bits here in Australia. I was lucky to have a family member bring some back from the USA for me. What you could substitute it for could be homemade toffee processed into small bits. You could also use the caramel chip/bits that Nestle make, or you could chop up some caramel fudge or Jersey caramels, but you won't get a crunch effect, but it would still taste really good! I also added broken up pretzels to the mix and this is what I got.

This is a mixture of sweet and salty, smooth and crunchy. It makes for a different take on the traditional Rocky Road, that's for sure. I'm confident my recipients will be delight.