Rocky Road Brownies

 

I was so embarrassed today.  We went to the grocery store this morning to do my weekly shop, only to have my card turned down at the cash register.  Not once, but twice. And then we tried Todd's card and his was turned down also. Has that ever happened to you?  I wanted to wither up and disappear into a hole in the floor.  I have never had it happen before. But then again, normally I check our bank balance before I go shopping. Today I neglected to do that.  Lesson learnt! 

 

In any case this will be a slim pickings week to say the least.  I rise to the challenge.  Thank goodness we have a fairly generous store cupboard!  Perfect for times like this! Oh boy! I don't think I will ever be forgetting to check our bank balance prior to shopping again!

 

This brownie recipe I am sharing today is one I baked early last week. It is not Rocky Road in the sense of the North American style of rocky road, although it is similar to be sure! 

 

The recipe comes from this cookbook I bought at M&S a long time ago when we were living down South.  The M&S cookery books are usually quite good if you can get your hands on one. They are filled with good dependable recipes.

 

I love M & S (which stands for Marks & Spencer's).  I am always telling Todd, if we won the lottery I would shop there all the time.  You can't beat their clothing.  We always buy our nightclothes there and Todd gets his shoes there.  Quality. And everything wears well. 

 

It is the same in the food hall.  Quality. You do pay a bit more for their food, but it lasts twice as long as food you buy anywhere else.  Funny that! 

  

Anyways, back to these Brownies.  Rocky Road here in the UK, is a type of slice that is made from melted chocolate  with butter and  then stirring in broken biscuits (usually digestives), candied cherries and marshmallow bits.  You press it all into a pan and then stick it in the refrigerator.  Its quite nice actually!!  Very sweet.

 

These brownies are not made of melted chocolate, butter and broken biscuits.  The batter is a simple brownie batter  . . .  with melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder  . . . 

 

You stir candied cherries and toasted walnuts into the batter  . . .  glace cherries.  You could use maraschino cherries if you wanted to.  Just dry them off very well.  I always rinse my glace cherries in warm water and dry them off anyways.

 

They get baked like any other brownie gets baked . . .

 

They have a thick chocolate glace icing . . .  its not runny, but it's not fluffy either.  

 

This gets spread onto the top of the cake and then you lightly press some mini marshmallows into the top over the icing, just so that they adhere.

 

Let them set and then you can cut them into bars to serve.

 

These are amazingly good.  The brownies are  moist and hold well together . . .  with a nice crunch from the toasted walnuts and a bit of sticky sweet cherry surprise here and there, that I quite liked!

  

I think I would actually call them a bit dangerous actually  . . . in that you will find yourself sneaking into the kitchen to cut off one more sliver when nobody is looking.  Oh, I am so naughty!

Rocky Road Brownies

Yield: 16

Author: Marie Rayner

Quite simply delicious.  Not the North American version of Rocky Road, but the British with glace cherries, walnuts and marshmallows.

ingredients:

• 225g butter, melted (1 cup)
• 100g plain flour (3/4 cup)
• 140g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
• 3 TBS cocoa powder, sifted (not drinking mix)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 large free range eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 70g glace cherries, quartered (scant half cup)
• 70g toasted walnuts (scant 2/3 cup)

For the frosting:

• 200g icing sugar (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 TBS cocoa powder, sifted
• 3 TBS evaporated milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 60g mini marshmallows (1 cup)

instructions:

How to cook Rocky Road Brownies

1. Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 9 inch square baking tin and line with baking paper. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre. Add the wet ingredients all at once. Beat well to mix together smoothly. Stir in the cherries and walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until just firm on top. Leave to cool in the tin.
3. To make the frosting, place all of the ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric whisk to give you a spreadable consistency. Spread over the cooled brownies. (It won't be really thick, but it shouldn't be runny either.) Sprinkle the marshmallows on top, pressing down slightly. Leave to set before cutting into squares to serve.
4. Store any leftovers in a tightly covered container.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

I remember going to a cooking show when I was working down South and they had several celebrity chef's on.  They both baked Brownies.  It was a brownie-bake-off. The end result was somewhat disgusting.  the Brownies were like melting in the middle cakes.  A good Brownie shouldn't be soupy or messy.  You should be able to pick it up with your hand and eat it.  I felt like telling them so . . .  but I didn't because I am polite, and well  . . .  they were the celebrities. 😲 

Happy Saturday!  If you are looking for a tasty treat to bake the family this weekend, do bake these. You won't be sorry that you did!