Eleftheria's Rocky Road (Nut-Free)

Eleftheria is my cousin's daughter who loves cooking and decorating and every year for her birthday we get together and plan her menu. She had seen a recipe for Rocky Road but didn't want any peanuts or coconut so we improvised and ended up with a different but fabulous variation using M&M's and chopped Jaffa cakes (an orange biscuit with a sponge base, layer of orange jelly and coating of chocolate).

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 10
• Yields: 24-30 squares

Ingredients

• 1  cup  M&M's or 1  cup  smarties candies
• 3 1⁄2 cups marshmallows (I bought a bag with a variety of colours and flavours)
• 1 (8 ounce) packet  orange cookies (Use Jaffa cakes or biscuits as they are easy to chop and combine well with the marshmallows)
• 500  g  milk chocolate (I used 400g milk and 100g dark chocolate)

Directions

1. Line a 20cm x 30cm pan with non-stick paper and make sure it extends up the sides so you can easily lift out the rocky road afterwards.
2. Cut the marshmallows into small pieces using a sharp pair of kitchen scissors and put in a large bowl.
3. Cut the Jaffa cakes/biscuits into small pieces, around 6 per biscuit and add to the bowl with the M&M's and mix gently.
4. Microwave the chocolate until melted or use a bain-marie.
5. Pour the melted chocolate into the bowl and mix gently with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are coated with chocolate.
6. Tip into the pan and smooth the mixture as evenly as you can.
7. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before removing from pan and slicing into squares with a sharp knife.