White Chocolate Rocky Road

Rocky Road is one of my go to "easy to impress" recipes. The recipe is impossibly easy to make and, for some inexplicable reason, everyone gets unreasonably excited when they see a plate it!

I made these back when I had first started full time work and decided that I had to come up with a brilliant way of getting my new coworkers to like me the only way I know how -aside from witty banter and actually being able to do the tasks I was given of course! So I whipped up a batch of White Chocolate Rocky Road with my favourite ingredients and brought them in the next day for Valentines Day.

A few of my favourite things: pistachios, almonds, marshmallows, gummy bears, cranberries and desiccated coconut

My favourite thing about this recipe is that you're free to include whatever ingredients take your fancy. There is no proper Rocky Road - just whatever you happen to feel like when you're shopping for ingredients! My personal favourites are pistachios for the crunch, and gummy bears for the chew and beautiful colours.

Melting white chocolate buttons double boiler style

The quantities in this recipe can be altered at your whim depending on how much you need -just make sure you have enough melted chocolate to cover all the good bits. The only hard thing is melting the chocolate to make sure it is smooth without seizing up which shouldn't happen if you're using the double boiler method. 

So if you need to whip up something everyone is sure to like, try making your own Rocky Road filled with your favourite ingredients!

This recipe is for Sweet New Zealand #32, a blogging event open to all Kiwi bloggers (including those overseas) which is being hosted by Frances at Bake Club.

White Chocolate Rocky Road

Ingredients:

375g white chocolate buttons (or a big block, roughly chopped)

1/2 cup pistachios

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup gummy bears

1 cup marshmallows

1/3 cup desiccated coconut

Method:

1. Line the sides of a 27cm x 17cm rectangular baking pan with baking paper. Allow enough to hang over the sides.

2. Place the white chocolate buttons in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water to create a double boiler and let it melt. Stir occasionally to help it along. You can also do this in the microwave if you wish, but stir frequently so it doesn't burn.
3. Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, set aside for a few minutes.
4. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour the white chocolate over the top and work quickly to make sure everything is coated.
6. Spread the mixture evenly into the baking pan and refrigerate until it is set (I usually leave it overnight).
7. Lift the Rocky Road out of the pan and cut into squares on a chopping board. Use a good knife because white chocolate is a lot harder to cut!

Lemon Syrup Loaf (from Bluebells Cakery)

The end of the year is fast approaching and we, at work, are entering what we like to call "the mad dash to get everything out the door before Christmas" and the "OMG there are so many clashing Christmas functions going on!"

It's actually quite exciting as I'm on a big project that I enjoy and Christmas functions are a great way to catch up with friends from university but I find myself wanting to spend a bit more time at home. 

I finally got the chance, this weekend, to leaf through Karla Goodwin's book Bluebells Cakery which was a birthday gift from Jason's sister. Inspired by London's array of boutique cupcake and cake shops (Hummingbird Bakery in particular), Karla started a stall in Parnell's French market, La Cigale. It wasn't long until the stall turned into her own kitchen in Hillsborough and then into a full blown shop!

Her book is full of recipes that are made at Bluebells Cakery, inspired by her time in London. It also has a handy list of tips and tricks to help any budding baker.

Lemon Syrup Cake seemed the most obvious choice this weekend because I had all the ingredients in the kitchen which meant I didn't have to leave the house. The syrup made the loaf super moist and it goes well with a nice cup of tea. It's so good that Jason's already had about half of it (I made it a couple of hours ago).

My loaf took a bit longer for the skewer to come out clean (about 1 hr 10 minutes) but it still managed to cook evenly.

This has been entered into Sweet New Zealand #29, a monthly Kiwi blogging event, started by the Alessandra and hosted this month by Alice from Alice in Bakingland.

Lemon Syrup Cake (from Bluebells Cakery)

Ingredients

Loaf:
3 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
230g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups caster sugar
1/3 cup lemon zest
4 eggs 

Lemon Syrup:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Method:
1. Grease and line a 22cm x 12cm loaf tin with baking paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. Combine the milk, lemon juice and vanilla in a jug and set aside.
4. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and mix through.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Don't be alarmed if the mixture curdles, it will come together when the dry ingredients are added.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, then add half of the milk mixture and stir through. Then repeat this process to add the remainder of the dry and wet mixtures.
7. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and level out the top until even and flat. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
8. To prepare the syrup, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
9. When the loaf is cooked, remove from the oven and make several holes by piercing the top with a wooden skewer or toothpick (these should be a couple of centimeters apart). Pour the lemon syrup over and let the loaf cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

The syrup helps to keep this loaf moist for up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature.

Sweet New Zealand #27 Round-up

At last, I can count the remaining days of the fit24 challenge on just one hand. Like I've mentioned before, the sleep and steps were a breeze but not having sugar was absolute torture! 

It was nice to see that the rest of the blogosphere has not subjected themselves to the same challenge and have given me the pleasure of living vicariously through their entries for this month's Sweet New Zealand round-up. 

First in the roundup is from Alessandra, the lovely lady who started Sweet New Zealand, and her Vanilla Cupcakes with Italian Butter Icing. They feature on the front cover of her new book Party Food For Girls and shows us how easy they are to decorate with pretty edible flowers from her garden!

Next, we have Carmella at Easy Food Hacks, with a Caramel Cake with Sea Salt from Jordan Rondel's recipe book, The Caker. The rustic looking cake is lightly infused with mandarin and the sprinkle of sea salt on top of the caramel sauce is just genius.

Egged on by her flatmate, Bridget at After Taste made a fantastic looking Cherry Ripe Mud Cake. While Cherry Ripes aren't a favourite in my household, her picture makes me want to give it a try in cake form. We always have a few at the bottom of a Cadbury Favourites packet that I could use..

After being inspired by a picture of a layered Cheesecake/Carrot Cake on Pinterest, Alice from Alice in Bakingland created her own, easier version: Carrot Cake Cheesecake. I don't know about you, but anything with cream cheese frosting gets my tick!

Not one for super ripe bananas, Sue at Couscous and Consciousness made Caramelised Banana Bread by sauteeing still firm bananas in butter and sugar. This was a slight twist on a Donna Hay recipe and was made as part of the breakfast food theme at the I Heart Cooking Club.

Amanda at Move Love Eat decided to forgo store bought custard and make some Homemade Custard and Stewed Fruit. Considering that I'm on a no sugar month, I'm delighted that none of it appeared in Amanda's recipe for custard (she used artificial sweetener) or the stewed fruit (I guess the fruit is sweet enough by itself). She has even posted nutritional information!

Upon hearing of my sugar free month, Alessandra quickly sent me a recipe from her Only Recipes blog which featured a very vibrant Pretty Fruit Salad. With watermelon season coming up, this will be a very refreshing treat to have on a hot day.

Being able to host Sweet New Zealand this month has been a real pleasure for me. It has been so exciting to see new blogs and meet their owners through great recipes and I look forward to participating next month when I have full use of sugar again!

Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you Alessandra for introducing me to this wonderful bunch of bloggers. Next month's host is Mairi from Toast who will be looking for your November entries. See you there!

Sweet New Zealand

Today marks the first day of my work's fit24 challenge. This means, for the whole of October, all competitors must try and last the month with:

1. at least 10,000 steps a day
2. at least 7 hours sleep and..
3. NO SUGAR

This is a great attempt at getting everyone in the office more active, less stressed and more aware of what they are eating. I'm told there are prizes so my hopes are high.

Needless to say, I'm going to find the last item super super hard! So while I'm not to let sweet temptations pass my lips, I will be calling on all the New Zealand bloggers to submit their delicious sweet treats to me for October's Sweet New Zealand so I can live vicariously through you.

Sweet New Zealand is a monthly blogging event started by Kiwi food blogger Alessandra Zecchini and I am delighted to be hosting this month. It's a great way to share recipes and meet new bloggers. In fact, it was through this even that I "met" last month's host, Carmella, and tap into a huge list of New Zealand bloggers I never even knew existed! 

For her August roundup, come here for inspiration and I can't wait to see your entries! For those who are new, here's how to enter:

1. This event is open to all bloggers living in New Zealand (even if you're not a Kiwi), as well as all Kiwi bloggers living and blogging overseas.

2. You can enter anything sweet: cakes, biscuits, slices, desserts, even drinks. You may submit as many entries as you like, including old posts if you want. 

3. Your entry must contain the phrase Sweet New Zealand, the Sweet New Zealand badge (choose your own size), a link to the host, and to this post - so if you are submitting an older post remember to update it accordingly.

4. To submit your entry email me at lucyeats@gmail.com by 28th October 2013 with:

• your blog name
• a link to your blog
• a link to the post you’re contributing (and name of recipe)
• a photo from your post (not more than 250 kb if possible)
• your name

I will be doing a roundup of all the submissions at the end of the month so get your entries in!