Recipe and images courtesy of The Gut Health Doctor (From the Eat More, LIve Well Book)
Melt-in-your-mouth chocolate, crunchy nuts, chewy fruit and fluffy popcorn, this gut-loving treat trumps your standard rocky road on flavour. Your gut microbes will get quite the feast of phytochemicals, prebiotics and 5g of fibre per slice, using just store-cupboard ingredients. Plus, the cocoa flavanols in dark chocolate could even boost your brain power!
MAKES 15 SLICES
INGREDIENTS:
- 300g dark chocolate (min. 70%)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for popping corn
- 30g corn kernels or natural popcorn
- 100g hazelnuts, chopped in half
- 50g brazil nuts, roughly chopped
- 2tbsp mixed seeds
- 50g goji berries
- 30g coconut flakes
- 90g dried mango, chopped
- 90g dried figs, chopped
TO MAKE:
- Toast the hazelnuts. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6 and place the nuts on a baking tray. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.
- To pop the corn, heat a splash of virgin olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the corn kernels and shake gently to cover them in the oil. Put the lid on and the corn will start popping after a couple of minutes. Shake the saucepan occasionally to prevent burning. The corn should have finished popping after 3 to 5 minutes.
- Pour the popcorn into a large bowl and mix with all the ingredients apart from the chocolate, reserving a handful of the goji berries, mango, nuts and coconut flakes to decorate the top of the rocky road.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof mixing bowl. Either place over a simmering pan of boiling water to melt or heat in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between. Stir in the 1 tbsp of olive oil, before pouring over the dry ingredients and mixing everything together well.
- Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with non-stick baking paper, pour the mixture into the tin. Scatter the reserved dry ingredients on top and press down. Place in the fridge to set, will take about hours.
- Once set, pull the rocky road out of the tin using the baking paper, and with a sharp knife cut into 15 slices and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
STORAGE: Keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge in a sealed container.
COOK’S TIP: If you love ginger, add 1/4–1/2 tsp of fresh grated ginger to the mix.
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