• Rainbow Easter egg rocky road recipe

Here we have taken the humble rocky road and turned it into something entirely different. We messed with it to bring you things – deep, dark grown-up things, complex flavours and their sunny, light hearted cousins full of prettiness and delight. The key to any rocky road is excellent quality chocolate. That should be a given, but give the chocolate the bedfellows it deserves. Some salt. Some texture. Something to surprise and delight amidst those layers of sweet on sweet.

Rose, white chocolate and pink peppercorn rocky road

INGREDIENTS

500g white chocolate

1 cup white marshmallows, roughly chopped

1 cup pink marshmallows, roughly chopped

½ cup Turkish delight pieces, roughly chopped

½ cup pistachio kernels

½ cup broken shortbread or plain biscuit pieces

100g nougat, chopped

To decorate

2 tbsp dried edible rose petals

2 tbsp dried pink peppercorns

½ cup mixed strawberry and raspberry freeze-dried fruit pieces

METHOD

1. Grease and line a 25cm x 16cm cake tin with baking paper, allowing the paper to overhang. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon until smooth (about two to three minutes).

2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour over the melted chocolate and stir gently until evenly coated. Spread mixture evenly in the baking tin before scattering over the rose petals, pink peppercorns and freeze-dried fruit and set aside until firm (about two hours) or place in the fridge to set.

3. Once set, turn out onto a clean surface and cut into chunks using a hot knife. Rocky road can be stored in an airtight container in the pantry or fridge for up to two weeks.

Serves 8-12

Licorice, pear and mukhwas rocky road

In this recipe we have incorporated mukhwas, a simple mix of fennel, coconut, coriander and amaranth. Popular all over India, mukhwas is consumed after a meal to freshen the breath and aid digestion. If you can't get your hands on any from Indian or specialist grocers, we have provided a quick make-your-own mix* or it can be replaced with lightly crushed fennel seeds.

INGREDIENTS

250g quality store-bought licorice, chopped into bite-sized pieces

150g dried pear (or a combination of dried and dehydrated)

500g dark chocolate

150g white marshmallows, roughly chopped

1 tbsp mukhwas*

100g shortbread, roughly broken into pieces

(*Mukhwas: 1 teaspoon each coriander seeds, fennel seeds, shredded coconut, sesame seeds and amaranth seeds – this will make slightly more than you will need for this recipe.)

METHOD

1. Grease and line a 25cm x 16cm square cake tin with baking paper, allowing the sides to overhang (for easy removal).

2. To make the mukhwas, add all ingredients to a mortar and pestle and lightly crush until fragrant. Set aside.

3. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon, until smooth (about two to three minutes).

4. Combine marshmallows, pear, shortbread, licorice and mukhwas in a bowl, reserving a few pieces of pear and a large pinch of the mukhwas.

5. Pour the chocolate over the mix and stir gently to coat well. Spread mixture evenly in the baking tin, scatter with additional pear slices and reserved mukhwas, then set aside until firm (about two hours) or place in the fridge to set.

6. Once set, turn out onto a clean surface and cut into chunks using a hot knife. Rocky road can be stored in an airtight container in the pantry or fridge for up to two weeks.

Serves 8-12

Caramelised white chocolate, honeycomb and toasted macadamia rocky road

INGREDIENTS

750g white chocolate

1 cup puffed rice

1½ cups white marshmallows, roughly chopped

¾ cup salted macadamia nuts, toasted and roughly chopped

1 cup honeycomb pieces, roughly chopped

1 tsp dried lavender (optional), to scatter

METHOD

1. Grease and line a 25cm x 16cm cake tin with baking paper, allowing the sides to overhang.

2. To make the caramelised white chocolate, preheat the oven to 120C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

3. Melt 250g of the white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon until smooth (about two to three minutes).

4. Pour the melted chocolate onto the baking tray and spread out so it is a few millimetres thick (you don't need to be exact with this but it helps for even cooking).

5.Place the tray in the oven and roast, checking on the chocolate and giving it a stir every five minutes or so, until the white chocolate turns a golden caramel colour (between eight and 12 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

6. Scrape the caramelised chocolate into a bowl with the remaining rocky road ingredients and stir briefly to combine (if the caramelised chocolate has completely set, break it into chunks before placing in the bowl). Be careful not to overwork the mixture – chunks of the caramelised chocolate should remain visible.

7. Melt the remaining white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon until smooth (about two to three minutes). Pour the melted chocolate over the ingredients in the bowl and stir to combine. Turn out into the lined cake tin and sprinkle with the dried lavender (if using). Set aside for a few hours to set or place in the fridge to harden.

8. Turn out onto a clean surface and cut into chunks using a hot knife. Rocky road can be stored in an airtight container in the pantry or fridge for up to two weeks.

Serves 8-12