Liberty Mendez

Our baking expert and recipe developer Liberty Mendez shares a cake that’s handy for using up leftover biscuits and chocolate

Combine two classic treats – chocolate cake and crunchy rocky road bars – in Liberty’s ingenious bake on page 110. It makes an ideal weekend project.

Chocolate rocky road cake

The joy of this recipe is that you can adapt it depending on what you have in the cupboard or biscuit tin. The combination of crunchy sweet-and-salty rocky road with moist, rich chocolate sponge ticks boxes for flavour and texture.

SERVES 10-12 PREP 25 mins plus at least 2 hrs setting COOK 1 hr 5 mins EASY

125g salted butter, softened,

plus extra for the tin

100ml vegetable oil

125g Greek yogurt

100ml milk

2 tbsp coffee granules, dissolved in 100ml boiling water and cooled (this enhances the chocolate flavour)

2 large eggs

225g light brown soft sugar 200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

50g cocoa powder

For the rocky road layer

150g biscuits (we used digestives),

plus extra for the topping 100g salted butter, cut

into cubes

200g dark chocolate,

finely chopped

60g golden syrup 80g mini marshmallows, plus

extra for the topping handful of extras of your choice, such as honeycomb pieces, popcorn, nuts, raisins, dried cranberries or glacé cherries (you’ll need about 60g), plus extra for the topping

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Butter the base of a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment. Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat, then remove from the heat and leave to cool for 3 mins. Whisk the melted butter, oil, yogurt, milk, coffee and eggs together in a large bowl until combined. Whisk the sugar, flour, baking powder and cocoa together in a separate large bowl, breaking up any lumps of sugar with the whisk. Gradually whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth, then pour into the tin. Bake for 55 mins-1 hr until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean with no wet crumbs. Leave to cool completely in the tin. 2 For the rocky road, tip the biscuits into a food bag and bash with a rolling pin until roughly broken up. Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup together in a large pan over a low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.

3 Tip the crushed biscuits, mini marshmallows and any extras into the pan and stir until everything is completely coated in the chocolate mixture. Spoon the rocky road over the cooled cake and smooth with a spatula so the top is completely covered. Sprinkle over some extra biscuit pieces, marshmallows and any other bits you’d like to add. Leave to set at room temperature for at least 2 hrs, or chill for 1 hr to help it set more quickly. Remove the cake from the tin, slice and serve. Will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for up to two days.

PER SERVING (12) 609 kcals • fat 38g • saturates 17g •

carbs 57g • sugars 34g • fibre 4g • protein 8g • salt 1g