Thursday, May 7, 2015

Vegan strawberry wafer rocky road

From a whole foods dessert we are veering to a decidedly non-whole foods treat! This rocky road makes use of chocolate, vegan marshmallows, pink wafers, strawberries and apple to give a fruity animal-free (and nut-free) twist on traditional rocky road.


I got the idea for this recipe from the May edition of Vegan Life magazine. The magazine featured a recipe for strawberry rocky road made with strawberries, apple, almonds and dried cherries, as well as chocolate, golden syrup and vegan margarine. I thought it sounded delicious and tucked the idea away to ferment. A few weeks later, this slice is the result.



I actually didn't love the apple in this slice, and next time would substitute more strawberries or dried fruit instead (I have made a note of that in the recipe). However, I really liked the mix of fresh strawberries, crunchy sweet wafers, and chewy marshmallows. My slice was quite messy - mostly because I was impatient and cut it before it fully set! - but it was messy in a very enjoyable way.



UK mother's day was earlier in the year, but for those of you in Australia and the US, I think this slice would make a nice mother's day treat. It takes very little time to prepare and is likely to appeal to young and old. I made use of a pink theme (strawberries, pink wafers, pink mallows) but that is entirely optional.

A final point on the wafers - vegan cream wafers are easy to find in the UK (the Sainsbury's brand is vegan for example) but I know they may not be so accessible elsewhere. I occasionally enjoyed the Eskal lemon cream wafers in Australia, which are gluten free as well as vegan, and they are also available here. However, if you struggle to find vegan wafers then another vegan biscuit could be substituted instead (e.g., digestive biscuits or graham crackers).


On unrelated matters, I just returned from voting in my first UK election and found it a completely different experience to Australian elections. In Australia it is mandatory to vote and polling places are usually quite crowded, with party representatives handing out 'vote for us' information before you go inside, and sausage sizzle stands competing with bake sale tables when you exit. Here, voting is not compulsory and there were far fewer people evident at the polling station. We barely had to queue, there were no party representatives, and there were no sausage sizzles or similar. It was all very boring! Of course, voting isn't about having a party and the more important thing is who takes office, but it is an interesting cultural difference.

Vegan strawberry wafer rocky road
An easy fun treat
Vegan
Makes about 16 squares

Author: Adapted from a strawberry rocky road recipe in Vegan Life magazine


Ingredients
100g dark dairy-free chocolate (mine was 70% cocoa)
1/2 cup (approximately 45g) vegan marshmallows (or regular marshmallows), cut into halves or quarters
100g vegan cream wafer biscuits or equivalent
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup washed, dried and dehulled strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup chopped dried fruit or 1/2 cup extra strawberry slices or 1 medium apple, diced (I used apple but wouldn't do so again)

Method
Line a square or rectangular baking dish with non-stick paper and set aside.

Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and melt on low heat over the stovetop or in the microwave.

When the chocolate is melted, add the marshmallows to the mixing bowl and stir through. Crush the wafers over the bowl and then stir through. Add the 1/2 cup sliced strawberries and dried fruit/extra strawberries/apple and stir through.

Transfer the rocky road mix to your prepared tin and press down to distribute evenly. Press the remaining 1/4 cup of strawberry slices into the top.

Refrigerate for 4 or so hours before cutting into slices. Store in the refrigerator.

If you're in the UK, did you vote today? And if you're in Australia or the US, do you have mother's day plans?

16 comments:

  1. Happy first UK election - and what you saw was apparently a high turnout election. It does get a lot quieter than this! I would love to see mandatory voting over here, even if there was a box people could tick to say 'none of the above'. I also would like to see more rocky road over this way - I really like pink wafers and strawbs, I bet this would be so moreish!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess the polls are open for a long time, so the number of people is necessarily diluted over lots of hours. Still, it seems odd that such a densely populated country doesn't have more visibility at the polls!

      Pink wafers make most things better :-)

      Delete
  2. I thought the voting would be busier this year with the main parties being neck and neck. I remember being at the council during the elections and someone had to go and tell people not to hand out voting literature so near to the voting booths. Anyway it is an exciting election to vote in for the first time in the UK (though looks like there might not be the change that was forecast!) Anyway I am sure the tories would appreciate your tory coloured slice (just joking). Seriously it looks very delicious and would be most welcome on mothers day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely not the change forecast!! Such a surprising outcome after all the 'it will be so close' hype. Perhaps the losing parties could do with some as a consolation ;)

      Delete
  3. Must hunt down some vegan marshmallows so I can make this post haste! I refuse to drop hints for important days (with the exception of vegan cupcakes!) and hubby isn't much for remembering things so I expect a bit of panic from him when he realises what Sunday is. Congratulations on your first UK vote. It's funny to be excited about something that people here in Australia are a bit meh about isn't it? Must be because you can choose to do it there...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh dear, I hope the panic happens early enough for him to get something organised for you!

      I can't say I was exactly excited about voting, but there is something novel about doing something for the first time in a new country :-)

      Delete
  4. Looks delish! I think there are many Aussies who wish voting was not compulsory.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can always turn up and not vote I guess!

      Delete
  5. Good to know about the apple! I think I would go extra on the strawberry..more berry is never a bad thing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I spotted that recipe in Vegan Life too, but wasn't sure how well fresh strawberries would work in rocky road. I'm looking forward to trying it now you've given it the thumbs up :)

    My experience of voting this year was the total opposite of yours. Our local polling station had queues round the block all day long with people having to wait up to an hour to get inside. We arrived at 7.30pm and STILL had to queue for 20 mins or so. Some of the candidates were still hanging around outside the hall so we chatted to them to pass the time. We definitely could have done with a food stall though. Maybe I should set one up next time. Could be a great money spinner ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obviously Bath people get more into the spirit of things than London people! ;) Oddly we had quite a high percentage of voting for the UK (70%) but I guess they distributed themselves evenly across the day.

      Delete
  7. A nice, sweet treat indeed! We also prefer fresh strawberries without apples. Yummm!!

    Julie & Alesah
    Gourmet Getaways xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. That certainly is a different voting experience and good on you for voting even when you didn't have to. I can't imagine it being so boring! I actually like voting and have always taken my kids with me who really love the sausage sizzle and cake stalls. I have a weakness for Rocky Road! I love how this has fresh strawberries xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Children would definitely be bored at UK voting areas! Maybe I'll try to convert the country by taking baked goods in future years ;)

      Delete

I genuinely appreciate all comments and the time taken to post them. Occasionally, I may need to restrict commenting to registered users in order to halt large volumes of spam. If that happens, I will lift the restriction within a week.

Want other ways to interact? Bite-sized thoughts is on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/bitesizedthoughts) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bitesizethought).