The year is 1997. I’m eight years old and the recess bell has just elicited a Pavlovian drooling response in me. I’m moments away from unzipping my school backpack and indulging in homemade rocky road, a rare treat for a child more acquainted with vegetable sticks and rice crackers. But Australian summers are hot and cruel, and the ziplock bag in my lunchbox now contains little more than a gooey mess of melted chocolate and marshmallow. It bypasses the bin, but is mentally deposited into the too-hard basket. By the time I get home, it’s solidified back to something curiously similar to its original form.
This is supposedly how rocky road was invented. In the mid-19th century, confectionery that didn’t survive the trip across the ocean from England to Australia was glued together with sub-standard chocolate and repackaged as rocky road. Some sources say the name refers to the “rocky road” of the journey, others the perilous path traversed by hopefuls in search of gold.
In the United States, rocky road is better known as an ice-cream flavour. It differs from the Aussie version in that it doesn’t contain coconut and usually features almonds in place of peanuts. Two competing creation stories are based in Oakland, California in 1929.
One says William Dreyer, the co-founder of Dreyer’s ice-cream, reportedly cut up marshmallows with his wife’s sewing scissors and folded them into ice-cream with almonds. The other claims Melvin Fenton of Fentons Creamery, a historic ice-cream parlour in Oakland, California, made a similar product using walnuts. The name came later that year when Wall Street crashed and the Great Depression took hold. Rocky road ice-cream became an affordable luxury that encouraged people to, “Share a scoop, share a smile.”
In Australia, confectionery company Darrell Lea is credited with making rocky road popular in Australia, following company founder Harry Lea’s 1935 recipe featuring toasted marshmallow and roasted peanuts, hand-mixed with milk chocolate. Even still, a Myer department store in Adelaide was advertising “Rocky Roads” as early as 1933.
These days the Rocky Road we’ve come to know and love still commonly contains peanuts, but is available both as a confectionary and as ice-cream. Connoisseur’s Rocky Road Ice Cream sticks are a neat new example of the latter: a centre of marshmallow flavoured ice cream has been swirled with syrup made from Derwent Valley raspberries and encased in peanut-studded chocolate ice cream, with the entire thing then coated in milk chocolate with more peanuts. It’s a slick re-imagination of a classic flavour.
There are also similarities between rocky road and the British chocolate tiffin cake – famously Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite afternoon tea treat. That no-bake recipe consists of crushed biscuits mixed through with any combination of dried fruit, nuts and sometimes marshmallows.
Whatever the provenance of the sweet treat, one thing is true: in a relatively short amount of time, rocky road has gone from a melted mess in my lunchbox to pimping decadent milkshakes, doughnuts and even pizzas. It doesn’t matter if it was invented to give candy another life, or which American dynasty first mixed the components with frozen dairy, rocky road’s combination of chewy marshmallow and sparks of salt to balance its sweetness has proven a formula that can stand the ages.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Connoisseur Gourmet Ice Cream’s new Rocky Road ice-cream, part of its new Laneway Sweets range, available now.
Produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Connoisseur.Learn more about partner content on Broadsheet.
FAQs
The name was used as reference to the rocky road that travelers used in order to access the gold fields, since the dessert sort of had the look of a rather bumpy road filled with rocks and potholes. Rocky Road ice cream, however, was invented by William Dreyer in Oakland, in 1929.
Who made the original Rocky Road ice cream? ›
According to one source, the flavor was created in March 1929 by William Dreyer in Oakland, California when he cut up walnuts and marshmallows with his wife's sewing scissors and added them to his chocolate ice cream in a manner that reflected how his partner Joseph Edy's chocolate candy creation incorporated walnuts ...
What's the difference between Rocky Road and Heavenly Hash? ›
Basically, both are chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and almonds. The difference seems to be 1) Heavenly Hash also includes some type of chocolate add-in, and 2) Rocky Road is chunkier: whole nuts, whole globs of marshmallow, where Heavenly Hash is more diced nuts and a marshmallow swirl and chocolate flecks.
What kind of dessert is Rocky Road? ›
Rocky road is a type of no-bake slice made up of milk chocolate and marshmallows along with other ingredients, which tend to vary by country.
What brand is selling the original Rocky Road? ›
The Original Rocky Road Ice Cream | Dreyer's® Rocky Road.
What is the meaning of Rocky Road? ›
noun. : a difficult time. He knew he had a long rocky road ahead of him if he wanted to become a doctor.
Why is Rocky Road ice cream so good? ›
The ice cream flavor features a base of smooth, chocolate ice cream. The soft chewiness of sweet marshmallows is contrasted with nutty, crunchy almonds to create a complex texture. There are variations of Rocky Road ice cream.
Why was Rocky Road ice cream invented? ›
In 1929, William Dreyer used his wife's scissors to cut up marshmallows and walnuts, which he then mixed into his chocolate ice cream. Later that year, when the stock market crashed, the name of the flavor became Rocky Road, “to give folks something to smile about.”
What happened to Edy's ice cream? ›
Call it the final scoop in the great ice cream meltdown. Nestlé agreed to sell its U.S. ice cream operations for $4 billion. The deal includes Häagen-Dazs, Edy's and Drumstick cones.
What are the chunks in Rocky Road ice cream? ›
Rocky road is chocolate ice cream with marshmallows and nuts. The ice cream variety was invented in 1929 by William Dreyer, who was inspired by Joseph Edy's nut- and marshmallow-filled chocolate bars.
Our founders created this classic almost 100 years ago and we continue honor it with every scoop! We start with our classic chocolate ice cream, and fold in crunchy almonds and bite size chewy marshmallows for the perfect scoop every time.
What is the difference between Rocky Road and S mores ice cream? ›
Rocky Road Ice Cream is a divine cold combination of chocolate, toasted almonds and marshmallows. S'mores is a warm treat with melted chocolate and toasted marshmallows sandwiched between two graham crackers. Deconstructed Rocky Road S'mores is the best of both!!
What is a fun fact about Rocky Road? ›
The rocky road dessert is created in Australia. The rocky road ice cream flavor is made by William Dreyer in Oakland. In the city of Edmonton in the state of Alberta, Canada, the biggest ice cream sundae in recorded history is made.
What's the difference between Tiffin and Rocky Road? ›
In the UK, you might hear Rocky Road referred to as 'tiffin'. British tiffin tends to focus more on a medley of dried fruits nestled into the chocolate base. In contrast, American Rocky Road usually includes marshmallows and nuts.
Which country invented the Rocky Road? ›
This is supposedly how rocky road was invented. In the mid-19th century, confectionery that didn't survive the trip across the ocean from England to Australia was glued together with sub-standard chocolate and repackaged as rocky road.
Why was Rocky Road invented? ›
Dreyer, who first began creating ice cream during the Great Depression, thought people could use some cheering up during this difficult time. Partnering with candy maker Joseph Edy, he debuted the first incarnation of the now famous flavor in Oakland, California in 1929.
Why is it called Rocklea Road? ›
The name purportedly relates to the rocky roads the confection had to travel on its way to the goldfields.
When did Rocky Road candy come out? ›
The history of the Rocky Road candy bar goes back to 1950. It was in this year that Russian immigrant Sam Altshuler started the Annabelle Candy Company in San Francisco, California.
