Turkish delight rocky road recipe

Turkish delight rocky road combines one of our favourite chocolate treats with gooey soft chunks of festive Turkish delight.

It's such a great combination, we're not sure why all rocky road recipes don't contain Turkish delight now. It's simple to do. You will only need about 40 minutes of preparation, but bear in mind you need to leave time for it to chill and set overnight. This recipe uses homemade Turkish delight, but if you're short on time, just use the shop-bought kind. You can get it in most supermarkets and it's a bit of a speedy cheat. Make this as a festive treat for you and your family to enjoy or give squares of it as lovely homemade food gifts.

Ingredients

• 600g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 75g sweetened dried cranberries
• 75g shredded coconut, lightly toasted
• 100g macadamia nuts, toasted

For the Turkish delight:

• 440g sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 60g cornflour, plus 2 tbsp extra
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tbsp rosewater
• 4–6 drops red food colouring
• 30g icing sugar

Method

1. Spray a 19cm square cake tin with oil. Line the base and sides with plastic wrap and lightly spray with oil again.
2. To make the Turkish delight, place the sugar, 185 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) water and the lemon juice in a heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
3. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, without stirring, for 30–40 minutes, or until the sugar syrup reaches the soft ball stage on a sugar thermometer 106°C. (The mixture should be soft and pliable when dropped into cold water and pressed between your finger and thumb.)
4. Remove from the heat. Combine the cornflour and cream of tartar in a large saucepan and whisk in 375 ml water until smooth. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until thick. Slowly stir in the sugar syrup.
5. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 75–80 minutes, or until pale and golden. Stir in the rosewater and food colouring. Pour into the prepared tin and allow to cool, uncovered, at room temperature overnight. Cut into 2 cm (¾ inch) cubes. Sift the icing sugar and extra cornflour onto a plate, add the Turkish delight cubes and toss until well coated.
6. To make the rocky road: Spray a 19cm square cake tin with oil and line the base and sides with baking paper, extending the paper over two sides for easy removal later.
7. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Half fill a saucepan with water, bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Sit the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stand, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has melted.
8. Spread one third of the chocolate into the prepared tin. Scatter evenly with half the cranberries, coconut, macadamia nuts and 250g of the Turkish delight. Pour over another one-third of the chocolate and scatter on the remaining cranberries, coconut and 250g of the Turkish delight.
9. Top with the remaining chocolate and tap the tin on the bench. Transfer to the refrigerator to set. Lift out using the paper handles and cut into pieces to serve.

Top tips for making Turkish delight rocky road

If you use store-bought Turkish delight, try to get plain - as in, not covered in chocolate - rose flavour (the pink one).

How can I make this Turkish delight rocky road even more special?

You can always add some of your favourite sweets or chocolates to pimp up the recipe. If you're making it as a gift, find out what your recipient's favourite chocolates are, and add some of those in.

Why has my melted chocolate gone grainy and seized up?

If you melt the chocolate on too high a heat it can seize and split. It goes grainy, almost as if there are cake crumbs mixed into it, and you may find it looks oiler than usual. To prevent this, melt the chocolate on a moderate heat. If it does happen, don't worry too much. You can still use the chocolate in the rocky road.

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• Rocky road ice cream
• Rocky road brownies
• Rocky road cake