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A no-bake chocolate rocky road christmas pudding – a fun alternative for those who want something chocolatey for christmas! 

Confession…

So… confession time. I don’t really like Christmas Pudding. Like… not at all. I don’t want to scare anyone off by saying this, but I thought I would be honest. 

This is the reason why, at the moment, I don’t have a Christmas pudding or Christmas cake recipe on my blog – as I just don’t want to bake it! Maybe in the future, that may change.. but at the moment, it’s a no from me.

Rocky road Christmas pudding

However, this is where this recipe comes in. I am all for everyone having a Christmas pudding if they want it and like it, but for me? I want something delicious and full of chocolate… so why not make a chocolate Christmas pudding?!

Or better yet… why not make a no-bake Christmas pudding to make it even easier! That is where the rocky road Christmas pudding is born. Now, I definitely did not invent this idea, so don’t think I am saying I have… but this is my own version. 

There is no reason why you can just make a batch of rocky road and set it in a bowl, splodge some white chocolate on top, and then decorate it ever so slightly! It is so easy to buy a pudding for christmas, but as I adore rocky road, and I wanted something slightly different… I thought I would make this! 

Rocky road recipes

For the rocky road itself, I basically followed along the lines of my other rocky roads such as my classic rocky road, and my christmas Rocky Road. The mixture of milk or dark chocolate, with golden syrup and butter, makes a smooth and delicious chocolate mix, that is much easier to cut than just chocolate on its own!

Biscuits, marshmallows, cherries, fruit and more!

For the filling, it’s basically up to you. I used a mixture of digestives, amaretti biscuits, mini marshmallows, glacé cherries and some raisins. I get a lot of you don’t like raisins but you get the idea! 

Add in Maltesers, use just digestives, use just amaretti biscuits… so on. You can really customise this to be your ideal rocky road christmas pudding, and that’s the charm of it! It’s an easy and versatile bake.

Decoration

For the decoration, I literally just used white chocolate melted and poured on top to get a more natural effect – but that again is up to you. For the holly, I made some simple buttercream and colouring it green to mimic holly, added some red M&Ms for berries and left to set! As always,  you can do this however you fancy! 

Enjoy!

As this is a bake that you would have to serve, it’s much easier to use a mix like this, so that you don’t have to hack at the bake with a knife. You can cut it much more easily, and it also tastes very delicious! 

Check out the recipe below, and the links to the bits and bobs I used! x

 

Rocky Road Christmas Pudding!

A no-bake chocolate rocky road Christmas pudding - a fun alternative for those who want something chocolatey for Christmas! 
Print Pin Rate
Category: Dessert
Type: Rocky Road
Keyword: Chocolate, Christmas
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Setting Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 16 Pieces
Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

For the Rocky Road

  • 125 g golden syrup
  • 125 g unsalted butter
  • 200 g milk chocolate
  • 200 g dark chocolate
  • 100 g mini marshmallows
  • 150 g digestives
  • 150 g amaretti biscuits
  • 100 g glacé cherries
  • 100 g raisins

Decoration

  • 100 g white chocolate
  • 75 g unsalted butter
  • 150 g icing sugar
  • Green food colouring
  • Red M&Ms

Instructions

  • Line a bowl of your choice with clingfilm - you want to make sure it's all covered to it's easy to get out! I use a small/medium metal bowl as it's the perfect size/shape!
  • Chop your chocolate up finely and leave to the side.
  • Chop your digestives/amaretti up into a bowl, and add the marshmallows, raisins, cherries.. whatever you fancy using!
  • In a pan, add your butter and syrup and melt until the butter has melted fully - take the pan off the heat and add in the chocolate.
  • The heat of the butter/syrup should melt the chocolate so it should be fine as it's finely chopped - but if you find you have lumps of chocolate left then put the pan back on the heat briefly to melt the mixture fully!
  • Pour the chocolate mix into the bowl of goodies and mix well.
  • Pour into the lined bowl, and press down and set in the fridge until solid - I say it takes a few hours really, but check as you go! You can always leave it overnight to set!
  • Once the 'pudding' has set, decorate!
  • Melted the white chocolate and pour it onto the pudding for the topping, and let it do its thing.
  • Cream together the unsalted butter and icing sugar until smooth - add the green food colouring to get to your desired green colour of holly!
  • Pipe the buttercream onto the pudding to mimic holly.
  • I added on some red M&Ms for the berries, and left it to set.

Notes

  • This beauty is just a glorifed traybake in a bowl - but I love it!
  • It will last for one week or so - and I kept it at room temperature!
  • If you want to use all milk chocolate, I would use 500g. 
  • If you want to use all dark, still use 400g. 
  • I recommend using these products for this bake:

ENJOY!

Find my other Recipes on my Recipes Page!

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J x

© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.

50 Comments

  1. Jen on December 10, 2023 at 11:47 pm

    I used cling film in a glass bowl but it’s now stuck. Any tips for getting it out of the bowl?

    • Lucy on December 23, 2023 at 3:11 pm

      Hi Jen, did you manage to get it out? I’m having the same problem right now!



    • Georgina on December 24, 2023 at 6:36 pm

      The same has happened to mine. How did you get it out??



  2. Heather on December 8, 2023 at 2:34 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for the first time and it was so delicious! Such a great idea for Christmas. Going to try the same recipe but place it into smaller moulds to make smaller versions next 🙂 Lovely recipe that can easily be adapted to different sizes and shapes.

  3. Anna on December 19, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    Could you use honey instead of syrup please,?

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 23, 2022 at 12:20 pm

      Hiya! Yes, this should be fine! x



  4. Wendy on December 15, 2022 at 10:34 am

    Does this cut easily (like a cake) or is it a bit more “tough” like rocky road?

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 15, 2022 at 12:56 pm

      Hiya! It is tougher as it is a rocky road, however the syrup makes it fairly easy! Hope this helps! x



  5. Gillia on November 23, 2022 at 7:03 pm

    How long do they keep fresh

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 29, 2022 at 3:29 pm

      Hiya! This will keep for about a week at room temp. Hope this helps! x



  6. Hollie on November 1, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    Hello… I love all your recipes, thank you for all the content!
    Are there any alternatives you could suggest instead of dried fruit? This would be perfect for my kids but they would turn their noses up at that bit!

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 3, 2022 at 8:25 pm

      Thank you so much! You can use whatever you want, its up to you! x



  7. Natalie on January 4, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    5 stars
    I made this for Christmas and it was a hit! All the non-Christmas pudding eaters ate this so quickly! Was the perfect pudding for Christmas Day to fit the theme! Delicious, easy to make and a real centrepiece for the table!

  8. syl on December 20, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    Hi when you melt the white chocolate on the top, do you put it back in fridge to set?

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 23, 2021 at 11:18 am

      You can do! Or you can set it at room temp but it will take slightly longer. Hope this helps! x



  9. Danielle Bainbridge on November 29, 2021 at 12:06 pm

    Can these be made in advance and frozen please?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 30, 2021 at 11:21 am

      Hiya, yes! This will last for up to 3 months in the freezer. Hope this helps! x



  10. Lisa on November 16, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    5 stars
    Hi what can I use instead of white chocolate on the top as my family aren’t fans of it x

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 17, 2021 at 1:08 pm

      Hiya! You could use and melts, royal icing, whatever you fancy! Enjoy & hope this helps x



  11. hannah on December 22, 2020 at 10:22 am

    would chopped dates work instead of dried fruit?

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 22, 2020 at 10:34 am

      Yeah I’m sure that would be lovely!



    • Rach on November 9, 2021 at 8:02 am

      Could you add your Christmas tipple to this as you would a normal pudding or would the alcohol affect the chocolate setting??
      Thanks x



    • Jane's Patisserie on November 9, 2021 at 10:13 am

      Hiya! Sadly this wouldn’t work im afraid! Hope this helps! x



  12. Jenna on December 15, 2020 at 4:35 pm

    U say chop up the digestives ? Like do u leave them in halves or do u just break them up with ur hands into bite size or crumbs or? .. sorry bit confused

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 15, 2020 at 5:00 pm

      You just chop them up into chunks.. you don’t want crumbs!



  13. Ian on December 6, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Hi, is there an alternative anyone would recommend to the amaretti biscuits as want to try but use an alternative for a nut allergy sufferer

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 6, 2020 at 11:54 am

      You can use any biscuit!



    • Jo on November 9, 2021 at 12:53 pm

      I like using shortbread x



  14. Juju on September 30, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    Cups, teaspoons, and oz., please?

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 1, 2020 at 9:04 am

      There is a button on the recipe for ounces, but I do not measure in cups.



    • Liz on November 8, 2021 at 1:30 pm

      Buy a little digital scale. You’ll never regret it. I only use recipes from the UK (I’m in Canada) simply because baking with weight measures is so much easier and tidier than cup measures.



  15. Eva on July 7, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    Terrific idea! (yes I am looking for Christmas recipe during Summer in Europe aha)

    • Jacqui lines on December 11, 2021 at 2:23 pm

      Hi Jane, do you think this recipe would work in silicon mould, I’ve got the perfect size moulds for small Xmas puds, would it be best to grease the mould or put a little cling film in before putting the ingredients in?



    • Jane's Patisserie on December 20, 2021 at 10:06 am

      Hiya! If your silicon mould can turn out then you should be fine, but if not then id recommend cling film! x



  16. Emma Reidy on April 25, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    Hi Jane. What size bowl did you use for this recipe 😊

    • Jane's Patisserie on April 25, 2020 at 6:41 pm

      Honestly I’m not even sure – about 6″ wide?!



  17. Nic on December 24, 2019 at 2:05 pm

    5 stars
    Superb recipe! I experimented with other ingredients, so made orange chocolate, mint choc and toffee ones. Although I found the toffee one was a weird texture (not curdled), I think it was the Curly Wurlies in the ingredients melting slightly. All done to take into work Xmas day 😃

  18. sophie on December 15, 2019 at 10:46 am

    im thinking of making this recipe for christmas and i was wondering if i could make it in advance and freeze it? is this recipe freezable?

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 15, 2019 at 11:01 am

      Yes it is – I would freeze without decoration though, and still set it in the fridge for a bit first.



    • Jo on November 9, 2021 at 5:05 pm

      Have you got any tips for pouring the white chocolate on top? Your topping looks so neat but whenever I’ve poured chocolate on top it drips too much down the sides rather than settling in a nice drip like yours!!



    • Jane's Patisserie on November 10, 2021 at 10:43 am

      Hiya! I wait for the chocolate to cool slightly before pouring so it’s naturally slightly thicker. Hope this helps! x



  19. Louise on November 24, 2019 at 11:37 am

    What size bowl did you use? Planning to make a few of these as presents!

  20. Naomi on November 20, 2019 at 9:32 pm

    How do you get the white chocolate so perfect on top of the pudding?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 21, 2019 at 9:12 am

      I literally just pour it on, then slightly smush it round with a spoon – that’s all!



  21. Sus on November 20, 2019 at 8:41 pm

    This looks delicious! Quick question- how do you get the white chocolate to set like that? How does it not all run down the sides to the bottom?!

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 20, 2019 at 9:31 pm

      I find when I melt chocolate it’s not that runny at all, so I just sorta push it over the sides with a spoon but that’s it!



  22. Julie Swan on November 20, 2019 at 8:22 pm

    Hi Jane, could you make this into small bite size puddings?

    Julie. X

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 20, 2019 at 9:31 pm

      Of course! You’d just need little balls, and then carefully decorate!



  23. Tricia on November 20, 2019 at 8:50 am

    Also can’t stand Christmas pudding! This looks like a perfect Christmas Eve “bake” with my 4 and 5 year old so we can leave a slice out for Santa. We do something different each year and I’m POSITIVE Santa will very much appreciate this one… 😉

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 20, 2019 at 9:01 am

      Awh that would be amazing!! I’m sure Santa would love it!



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