Rocky Road Macaroons Recipes

EASY ROCKY ROAD

Steps:

• Grease and line an 18cm square brownie tin with baking paper.
• Place 200g digestive biscuits in a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin or just the side of your fist until they're broken into a mixture of everything between dust and 50p-sized lumps. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan melt 135g butter or margarine, 200g dark chocolate and 2-3 tbsp golden syrup over a gentle heat stirring constantly until there are no or almost no more lumps of chocolate visible, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool.
• Take the biscuits, 100g mini marshmallows and up to 100g of additional ingredients (dried fruit, nuts, popcorn, honeycomb), if you like, and stir into the chocolate mixture until everything is completely covered.
• Tip the mixture into the lined baking tin, and spread it out to the corners. Chill for at least 2 hrs then dust with icing sugar and cut into 12 fingers.

ROCKY ROAD

Steps:

• Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium heatproof bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Heat more, at 20-second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until melted. Stir in vanilla extract. Fold in marshmallows, nuts, and cookies.
• Spread mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until set. Lift from pan using the foil or parchment paper, and cut into squares. Keep in the fridge. I like to take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving.

MACARONS

Steps:

• Place the icing sugar and ground almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse about 15 times until fully combined. Sieve this mixture into a large bowl, discarding any particles that stay in the sieve. Add the first batch of egg whites to the almond mixture, mix to form a thick paste and set aside.
• Tip the second batch of egg whites into a spotlessly clean, heatproof bowl and have an electric whisk at the ready. Place 50ml water and the granulated sugar into a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup registers 110C, using a sugar thermometer, at which time start to beat the egg whites on high speed. Once the syrup is at 118C pour it slowly down the side of the mixer bowl, avoiding the moving whisk. Continue to whisk on high until the mixture has cooled slightly and you have a shiny peaked meringue mixture - the bowl should no longer be hot to the touch, but still warm. Add the colouring and whisk to combine.
• Tip the meringue onto the almond mixture and gently fold together. It is important not to over-mix the batter - it should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula. The ribbon should also fade back into the batter within about 30 secs - if it doesn't, fold a few more times.
• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3-4. Line three baking sheets with baking parchment. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Hold the bag vertically to the tray, with the nozzle about 1cm from it. Pipe rounds about 2.5cm in diameter onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave to rest for 30 mins, or until the macarons have developed a skin.
• Bake the macarons for 14 mins (this needs to be precise, so you could test a macaron first). Immediately slide the parchment onto the work surface and cool for a few minutes before gently peeling the macarons off the paper.
• To make the filling, place the cream in a small saucepan and the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream just to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Leave to stand for a few mins, then stir to combine. Add the butter and stir until smooth, then leave to set until thickened. Place the chocolate mix into a clean piping bag with a smaller nozzle and pipe around the edge of half the macarons. Fill the centre with jam and sandwich with another macaron shell.
• Once finished, the macarons will improve with an overnight rest in the fridge.

ROCKY ROAD

Steps:

• Line a 20cm x 20cm brownie tin with foil. Crumble the biscuits and the walnuts into a large bowl (you want a good mixture of pieces and fine crumbs). Snip the marshmallow into halves or quarters with scissors and add those to the bowl too. Set aside.
• Put the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl then pour the melted butter and syrup mixture over it and leave to sit for a couple of minutes without stirring. Now stir until the chocolate is smooth and has melted then pour the whole lot over the biscuits and marshmallows. Stir to coat all the pieces in the chocolate then pour into your prepared tin in an even layer. Don't press it down too much, you want quite a bumpy 'rocky road' surface. Leave to set in the fridge for 1-2 hours or overnight then dust with icing sugar and chop into bars or squares to serve. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

ROCKY ROAD MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
• Stirring frequently, toast coconut and almonds in a dry skillet over a high heat until golden. Transfer to plate and refrigerate to cool.
• In large bowl, beat Almond Paste with egg whites for 2 minutes or until a very smooth paste.
• Whisk sugar and potato starch together. Add sugar mixture to almond mixture a tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat until batter is smooth and shiny.
• Fold coconut, almonds and chips into batter. Chill 15 minutes.
• Drop chilled batter by tablespoons onto parchment. Bake 15 minutes or until cookie tips and bottoms are golden brown.
• Cool baking sheet on wire rack. Remove cookies when completely cool and store in an airtight container.