I’m pretty fussy about my brownie and carrot cake recipes. That means I’ve tried multiple versions of them ― and most of the time, the biggest celeb chef names don’t win out.
That’s partly because I’m unapologetically fussy. I reckon if I’m going to spend time and money (often more money than just buying a cake) on making food at home, it has to be exactly what I want.
For brownies, that means dense, chocolatey squidginess barely concealed by a thin, crisp top; I like my carrot cake moist and large-crumbed, with plenty of cream cheese icing.
And though rocky road seems simple, I’ve been amazed by how many dusty, mealy, flavourless options there are out there (don’t get me started on those with stale, rubbery biscuits).
So, I thought I’d compare recipes from Mary Berry, Gordon Ramsay, and Jamie Oliver to my personal favourite.
And?
Let me just say that rocky road is a bit like pizza; though it’s hard to make it perfect, it’s pretty tricky to make sugar, chocolate, and biccies taste bad too.
Mary Berry’s recipe is simple, relying on crumbled Digestives (whose texture I prefer to Rich Tea in rocky road) and Crunchie bars to provide a bite. It’s delicious.
I will say, though, I love gummy, chewy gems of dried fruit and marshmallows in my rocky road to counterbalance the crunch, which this didn’t have.
I also found the honeycomb a little too crunchy, and its sugary structure didn’t hold up well in the fridge either ― it wilted under even a whisper of moisture when cut.
Then came Gordon’s offering. We started off strong, with mini marshmallows and peanuts (I love the salty taste of pretzels in rocky road but again think they’re too crunchy; this is a good compromise).
He also added dried cranberries, which were an instant hit. I’ll never neglect these again ― I just wish his recipe had had more golden syrup and chocolate, so he wouldn’t have had to compress it into a slightly too crumbly and dry mix.
Jamie Oliver, on the other hand, was less prescriptive about his fillings, suggesting popcorn (which went soggy) and meringue (which I’ll admit I didn’t try for fear it’d melt).
He mixed white chocolate with dark chocolate (without any butter or Golden Syrup) to form more of chocolate tablet than a chewy, crunchy, gooey rocky road.
I actually thought this was miserable, offering neither the tempered snap of a real chocolate bar nor the molten joy of chocolate fondue.
Never again, I’m afraid.
So what’s the best recipe?
I’ve mentioned the hidden gem that is Irish flour company Odlums’s site before, and I have to say that they’ve knocked it most of the way out of the park with their rocky road recipe too.
They use dark chocolate for a rich, not bitter, taste; their design is pretty enough to work as a birthday or other celebration cake; they add Golden Syrup for a sunny sweet tang, and include dried fruits and Maltesers.
Maltesers are, in my opinion, the better alternative to Crunchies. I’ve found that though they have a similar honeycomb structure, they hold up better and are less tough on the teeth.
However, I learned a lot from the pros. Like Mary Berry, I’m a Digestives purist; this recipe uses half those and half Rich Tea, but I swapped out the latter and went Digestives-only.
Gordon Ramsay’s bright, chewy dried cranberry addition is now a non-negotiable. I placed these in place of both the buts and cherries or apricots (there was no need for the added bite of the nuts anyway, I felt).
Lastly, I suppose the recipe had something of the chocolate tablet idea from Jamie Oliver.
Its picture led me to a little bit of melted chocolate on top of my set rocky road after it had cooled to form a sort of “icing” layer; I placed a ring of Maltesers and marshmallow on top of that for looks.
Aside from that, I added a bit of chopped fudge to my recipe. This wasn’t really inspired by anything ― I just had some left over and found that it added a lovely caramel tang and chocolate chip-like bite to the rocky road.