Salted Caramel Popcorn Rocky Road

Salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy – this rocky road has it all! It only takes 5 minutes to put together and is perfect for an after dinner treat, cake stall or work morning tea.

Ingredients
300g dark chocolate melts
¾ tablespoon vegetable oil
1½ cups caramel popcorn
1 cup white marshmallows, halved
½ cup salted peanuts + ¼ cup extra, chopped
Sea salt flakes

Method
Line a 20x20cm square pan with baking paper.

Melt chocolate in the microwave in a large bowl and add oil. Set aside a quarter of a cup of the chocolate mixture.

Add popcorn, marshmallows and peanuts to the large bowl and stir until evenly coated in chocolate.

Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula and then pour over additional chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and a good pinch of sea salt.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Cut carefully into serving sized pieces (approx. 24 squares). Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from donna hay magazine Christmas 2017

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Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows

As the weather cools down, I am craving hot chocolates and crisp nights around the campfire, both of which are infinitely improved by the addition of marshmallows. Homemade marshmallows are on an entirely different level to store bought. Their texture is  impossibly soft, light and dreamy with none of the powderyness that even the best quality store bought varieties have. These are perfect for eating as is, roasting over a fire, popping into a steaming mug of hot chocolate, or combining with chocolate and graham crackers (or equivalent) to make s’mores. Do yourself a favour and make some, stat! These marshmallows are so good, I am already thinking of how I can use the base recipe to make different flavours and variations (how good would Baileys marshies be?!)

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Ingredients (makes ~30)
½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons flavourless, powdered gelatine
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1 ½ cups caster sugar
⅔ cups liquid glucose
½ cup water, extra
1 cup icing sugar, sifted

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Spray a 20cm x 30cm slice tin with cooking oil and line the bottom with baking paper.  Place the warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, add gelatine and vanilla and stir to combine. Set aside.

Place the caster sugar, glucose and extra water in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Allow to boil, without stirring, for 6–7 minutes until the temperature reaches 115°C on a sugar thermometer. With the electric mixer on high, add the hot syrup to the vanilla gelatine mixture in a thin steady stream, and beat for 5-10 minutes or until white, thick and glossy.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Using a spatula sprayed with cooking oil, smooth the top of the marshmallow.

Refrigerate for 1–2 hours or until set. Gently tip the marshmallow, top-side-down onto a clean, flat surface dusted with icing sugar. Peel off the baking paper and sift icing sugar over the top. Dust a large knife with icing sugar and cut marshmallows into squares. Enjoy!

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Can be stored in the fridge for ~1 week

Adapted from Donna Hay’s ‘Caramel Swirl Marshmallows’

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