Rocky Road Christmas Tree

This is definitely one of my favourite things to make at Christmas. It is really simple to create, tastes amazing and looks absolutely stunning as a Christmas centrepiece! You can adapt it to suit your own tastes - leave out any ingredients you don’t want, and add any you do. It’s also great fun to decorate and add your own special flair. Just a warning: if it looks too good it will be hard to bring yourself to cut it up!

Merry Christmas!

Rocky Road Christmas Tree

Ingredients:

800g milk chocolate

300g honeycomb (can be chocolate coated – which is what I use)

150g glace cherries
110g Turkish Delight (can be chocolate coated– which is what I use)
100g coconut
100g mini marshmallows (or chopped regular-size marshmallows)
100g peanuts

200g white chocolate
200g dark chocolate

Any desired decorations


Method:


Cover a large cardboard sheet with baking paper (secure using good quality sticky tape, or staples – I had some issues with some stickytape being stuck in the chocolate...so be careful!). Roll up into a cone of your desired size and shape, and secure again with tape or staples. Position open end up in a sturdy container – this makes it easier to transfer the mixture to the cone and is used when storing the tree while the rocky road sets in the fridge. Set aside.


Roughly chop the honeycomb, cherries, Turkish delight and peanuts. Transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside.


Melt the milk chocolate. This can be done in two ways:

- Melt the chocolate in a medium-large heatproof bowl in the microwave – break chocolate into small pieces, then heat in microwave in 30 second bursts (not at full power) until melted and smooth. Be sure to stir at each of these 30 second intervals. (If there are only a few small lumps remaining, see if you can stir them out before heating chocolate again, to prevent burning it.)

- Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set up over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. (Be careful to not let the chocolate come into contact with any water or steam, otherwise it will sieze up!)

Immediately after chocolate is melted, stir through chopped honeycomb mixture, coconut and mini marshmallows. Transfer mixture to prepared cone, press down and flatten top with a spatula/spoon. Carefully cover with foil and refrigerate overnight (or at least for a few hours or until hard!).


Carefully unwrap the rocky road from the cone. Take a sharp knife and trim the large bottom end, to allow it to stand straight (unless of course, you like the lopsided look!). Move to a surface flat surface that can get messy (e.g. plate, pastry mat, bench, baking paper). Begin decorating:


To decorate, melt the dark chocolate. Pour over the top of the tree, allowing it to cascade down the sides. Repeat with the white chocolate (it looks like snow!). Alternatively, take a spoon and flick both dark and white chocolate up and down the tree for an effective streaky, stripy look. Add some sprinkles/red or green m&m’s or smarties/coloured decorating balls or cachous/coconut/any other decorations of your preference. Make sure to do this before the chocolate fully sets! (note: if decorating with tinsel, allow chocolate to set a little first, then secure one end of the tinsel to the top of the tree, wind around, then secure the other end to the base – otherwise the tinsel will be fully stuck in the chocolate).


To make a chocolate star for the top: take some melted chocolate and smooth onto a tray lined with baking paper, about 3-5mm thick. Let set for about 20-30 seconds in the fridge, then leave at room temperature until fully set. Take a small star cookie cutter (or star template) and cut out star shapes from the chocolate. Refrigerate stars until hard, then choose one to stick to the top of the tree with some melted chocolate. (Note: you will most likely have to do a few stars as some will break or not come out the right shape)


Return decorated tree to the fridge to set again until chocolate is hard. Store refrigerated.


To serve: place on a chopping board horizontally, and slice rounds of desired thickness with a very sharp knife. Can be sliced further into smaller pieces as required. (Note: the tree can be left out of the refrigerator to slowly warm to room temperature to serve, but be careful of the outside melting a little from the heat of your hands when cutting).

Source: Bec original.