These Rocky Road Brownies are a take on the Australian Rocky road - but in brownie form. You can definitely let your imagination run wild with your favourite add-ins, but I wanted to add some seasonal colours with bright green pistachions, red gummy bears and raspberry sauce, white coconut and a sprinkling of white chocolate.
4.5ounces/ 125g roasted nutsI used pistachios and slivered almonds (see note 1)
1/2cupraspberry preserves
Rocky Road Ganache Layer
10ouncesfinely chopped semi-sweet chocolatecan be substituted with any kind of chocolate - white, milk or dark
1/2cupcream
1cupmini marshmallows
1cupgummy bearsgum drops or turkish delight
1/3cuptoasted desiccated unsweetened coconutyou can increase this upto 1/2 cup if you prefer (see note 2)
extra white chocolate to grate on topoptional
Instructions
Fudgy Raspberry Brownies
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Line a 8x8 inch square pan with foil or parchment paper.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler (if using a stove) or microwave safe bowl (if using a microwave). Stir at intervals to make sure they do not burn and that they melt evenly.
Leave aside to cool. (please see note 3)
If you completely cool the chocolate mix, reheat it just to melt this mix and whisk in both sugars into the chocolate-butter mix.
Whisk/beat in the eggs, one egg at a time until it is incorporated well.
Add the vanilla and salt and mix through.
In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder and flour together. Add the nuts and coat them with the flour.
Add the flour, cocoa and nuts into the brownie batter and mix well.
Evenly spread in the pan and tap it on the counter to break any bubbles in the batter.
Spoon the raspberry preserve over the batter and use a spoon to gently swirl it into the batter.
Bake in preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes. Check at the 25 minute mark. The brownie is done when you insert a tooth pick (or cake tester) into the brownie and it comes out cleanly with only a few crumbs attached.
While the brownies are still warm, spread the rocky road layer on top. Recipe follows.
Rocky Road Chocolate Ganache Layer.
Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and keep all the other ingredients close by.
Heat the cream in a saucepan until it just starts to boil.
Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and whisk to melt the chocolate completely.
Add the gummy bears, marshmallow and coconut into the chocolate. Leave aside until the brownies are ready.
When the brownies come out of the oven, warm up the chocolate for about 30 seconds - 1 minute (on a double boiler or in the microwave) to allow the chocolate and candy to soften (but not melt the marshmallow)
Spread this mix over the hot brownies while it is still in the baking tray.
Grate some white chocolate on top while it is warm (optional).
Leave to cool completely until the chocolate layer on top is set - preferably leave it to rest over night. Loosen the brownies from the pan using a warm knife or palette. Cut into 2 x 2 inch squares.
Can be eaten at room temperature, cold or warm!
Notes
Note 1 - You can buy raw nuts and toast them in a 350°F/180°C oven for about 10 minutes until they become very lightly browned. Note 2 - You can get untoasted unsweetened coconut and place them on a dry pan and over low-medium and toast them (keep them moving constantly) until they just start to discolour and you can smell the coconut. Note 3 - If you melt the chocolate and butter, and leave them to cool and then re-heat it again it adds to the fudginess of the brownie. It is not necessary to do this, but I try to at least melt the butter earlier, let it cool and then melt it again whenever I make brownies.