Christmas rocky road

Adapt the recipe for this however you like – candy cane pieces add a minty flavour, for example. It’s great for using up leftover Christmas sweets and biscuits.

MAKES 20 squares PREP 20 mins plus at least 3 hrs chilling COOK 5 mins EASY

100g butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for the tin

250g Christmas biscuits, such as shortbread or chocolate biscuits

75g shelled nuts (use up a bag of whole nuts, or bits and bobs from the baking cupboard)

100g mixed dried fruit (such as raisins, cherries or glacé ginger)

75g Christmas sweets (candy canes, marshmallows or jelly sweets)

400g milk or plain chocolate (or a mixture of both), chopped

140g golden syrup (weigh this straight into the pan you will use for melting)

2 tbsp sprinkles, or more sweets, to decorate

1 Butter and line a 20cm square tin, or use a 20cm square silicone mould. Break the biscuits into pieces – they need to be no smaller than a pea, but not too chunky or your rocky road won’t hold together. 2 Halve any larger nuts either by snapping them or carefully cutting with a knife, then combine them with the biscuits. Halve any large pieces of dried fruit and chop or snap sweets into smaller pieces, then add these to the bowl. 3 Melt 300g of the chocolate, the butter and the golden syrup carefully in a pan set over a low heat, stirring occasionally, then pour this over the biscuit and nut mixture and mix together so the chocolate covers everything.

4 Tip the mixture into the tin, then level the top – it doesn’t need to be completely smooth. Melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave in short blasts, or in a heatproof bowl over a small pan of simmering water, then drizzle this over the top and sprinkle with the decorations. Chill for at least 3 hrs or overnight before cutting into squares. Will keep in the fridge for three to four days.

PER SERVING 286 kcals • fat 16g • saturates 9g • carbs 32g • sugars 25g • fibre 1g • protein 3g • salt 0.3g