National Rocky Road Day is a day dedicated to the eating of Rocky Road ice cream; a dessert made from marshmallows, nuts, and chocolate.

In addition to being an ice cream flavor, Rocky Road is actually a popular dessert that is even older than ice cream. In fact, it was this dessert that inspired the ice cream made with these same ingredients.

But National Rocky Road Day can certainly be relied upon to celebrate either one–or both–of these decadent treats.

History of National Rocky Road Day

The Rocky Road dessert was first created in Australia in 1853. Unscrupulous businessmen took confectionery items that had been spoiled by their journey from Europe and mixed them with local nuts as well as low quality chocolate to try to recover them instead of throwing them out.

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. He created an ice cream that included the same ingredients as the original dessert as a means to lift the spirits of those affected by the Wall Street crash that launched into the Great Depression of the 1930s. The tagline used for this treat at the time was “share a scoop, share a smile”.

How to Celebrate National Rocky Road Day

In order to celebrate the day, it’s possible to eat Rocky Road ice cream,, or make sure that Rocky Road is included as a dessert when eating out!

These other ideas for celebrating National Rocky Road Day:

Make Authentic Rocky Road

Because it was originally inspired by dumping an eclectic variety of leftovers into cheap chocolate, the rules for making Rocky Road of any kind are pretty flexible! Simply do it with whatever is preferred or what is on hand in the kitchen.

Start by melting chocolate–something with a high wax content will help keep it from melting again too easily. Then, add in a bunch of whatever is in the cabinet! This conglomeration can include ingredients such as nuts, including almonds, peanuts, pecans, or walnuts. Try out dried fruits like raisins, dried cranberries, or even small chunks of dried mango. And don’t forget to add in bits of mini marshmallows that will keep everything extra sweet!

Enjoy Rocky Road Ice Cream 

Head out to an ice cream shop, restaurant or grocery store that offers Rocky Road Ice Cream in celebration of this special day! Try these brands out to see which is best:

• Baskin Robbins Rocky Road. Made from cream, sugars, marshmallows, cocoa, and almonds (plus a few other ingredients) this Rocky Road is available from one of the most recognizable ice cream brands in the world. Find Baskin Robbins locations in the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia, Egypt, Thailand, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and so many more.
• Edy’s Rocky Road. Try the ice cream brand that started it all when Joseph Edy and William Dreyer got together to make Rocky Road Ice Cream. This slow churned chocolate ice cream contains marshmallows, chocolate chunks and walnuts. The company is now owned by international corporation, Nestle.

Share Rocky Road with a Friend 

To make the most out of National Rocky Road Day, be sure to pass on the love by sharing either the ice cream or the dessert treat with a friend or family member. Or grab a couple of cartons of ice cream to take to the office to share with coworkers in the break room.

Make Rocky Road Smoothies 

For those who don’t have easy access to Rocky Road ice cream, or who are looking for a slightly healthier alternative, it’s easy to whip up a batch of Rocky Road smoothies to enjoy alone or with family.

Just throw these ingredients into a blender: chocolate almond milk (or some other chocolate milk), frozen banana slices, sliced almonds, mini marshmallows, and almond flavoring. Blend it up and enjoy!