Rose Turkish Delight Rocky Road

Method

1. Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides to lift the slab out later.
2. Tip the Turkish delight onto a plate and brush the loose dusting sugar off every cube.
3. Cut any pieces larger than about 1.5cm with a lightly oiled knife, wiping the blade between cuts.
4. Spread the cubes on a tray and chill them for 10 minutes so they stay square when the warm chocolate arrives.
5. Chop the macadamias roughly, leaving about half of them in halves rather than crumbs.
6. Halve any marshmallow bigger than a 20 cent coin, so no single piece dominates a square.
7. Chop the chocolate to about 1cm and set a third of it aside in a separate bowl.
8. Melt the other two thirds in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, or in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each one.
9. Take the bowl off the heat and stir the reserved third through until every last piece has disappeared.
10. Leave the chocolate to cool until it feels barely warm on the inside of your wrist, roughly 31 to 32°C.
11. Stir the salt through, then fold in the macadamias, then the marshmallow, then the Turkish delight last.
12. Scrape the mixture into the tin and press it level with the back of an oiled spoon.
13. Scatter the rose petals over while the surface is still tacky, within about five minutes.
14. Set at cool room temperature for two hours. If the kitchen is above 25°C, give it 30 minutes in the fridge first and finish it on the bench.
15. Lift the slab out by the paper and cut 25 squares of about 4cm with a long knife warmed under a hot tap and dried between cuts.

Questions we get asked

How do you stop rocky road going soft in summer?

Three things, in order of how much they matter. Use dark chocolate rather than milk, keep the chocolate ahead of the fillings at about three parts to two by weight, and store the cut squares in an airtight container in the coolest cupboard in the house rather than on the bench. Cocoa butter begins to give way just under body temperature, so a slab left in a car or on a sunny sideboard is past saving before you notice.

How long does homemade rocky road keep?

About two weeks in an airtight container at cool room temperature, and it is at its best in the first week. The chocolate is the stable part; the fillings are what age. Marshmallow firms up, and Turkish delight slowly gives up moisture into the chocolate around it, which dulls the cross section. Freezing buys a month and costs you the surface, because condensation on the way back to room temperature leaves it matte and faintly tacky.

Can you send rocky road as a gift?

Not through the post in an Australian summer, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Home-made chocolate has no packaging designed for a hot van, and we do not ship home-made food. Treat it as a gift you hand over: a tin, a ribbon, given in person or driven across town in a cooler bag. If it genuinely has to travel, send something built for the trip instead, such as the boxed rocky road above or a hamper.

One chest of rose cubes makes this slab with enough left over to eat straight from the box. The full range sits on the Real Turkish Delight page, the ready-made version is on the confectionery shelf, and if the sweet things need to reach someone else's table, the Christmas hampers do that job properly. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.