GINGERBREAD ROCKY ROAD
Incalculably sweet, but who cares? It’s Christmas
after all. This is a task where the maxim “less is more” bears no relevance. Keep a few gingerbread
people back whole to decorate the top, so when
you come to slice this dense slab of confection you can apportion body parts to everyone. I used shop-bought gingerbread; you could of course make
the lot from scratch.
200g gingerbread people (shop-bought or home-made) 300g good-quality milk or
dark chocolate 125g butter, softened 3 tbsp (45ml) golden syrup 75g small marshmallows, or use big ones roughly chopped
25g favourite Christmas sprinkles, or use mini Smarties
or similar
Makes 12 fingers INGREDIENTS METHOD Reserve two or three
whole gingerbread people to decorate, then put the rest of them in a bag and bash with a rolling pin. You want to end up with a mixture of dust and larger
crumbs and pieces. Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a pan over a moderate heat. Remove from the heat and keep warm. In a mixing bowl, combine the broken gingerbread and all but approximately 125g of the melted chocolate (saved for decoration later). Add the marshmallows and the sprinkles, while mixing
well to combine. Line a 20cm square
baking tray with greaseproof paper and add the chocolate and biscuit mixture to the tin, pressing it down flat
with a spoon. Pour the remaining melted chocolate mixture all over the top and press the reserve gingerbread people in to decorate. Try
to avoid them being covered by the melted chocolate, if you can. Put the rocky road in the fridge to chill and harden, at least for an hour, before cutting the whole thing
into fingers to serve.
Kids love to wield a tool in the kitchen, so get them busy
using a teaspoon to push melted marshmallow
into the chocolate cups for these walnut whips – and bashing the gingerbread for the rocky road in a bag with a
rolling pin.
If your children
don’t have aprons, secure them with large
tea towels to keep the mess at bay. Make sure
sleeves are rolled up well, as trailing cuffs
in melted chocolate are
a sticky nightmare.