"I love the combination of chewy fruit, sticky marshmallow and crunchy biscuit, all covered in rich chocolate. Rocky road is one of the first things I ever made in the kitchen with the kids.

I say ‘made’, even though it is more a case of ‘putting together’ as opposed to baking. But this variation is a rocky road with a soft landing – in cake form."

Serves: 16

Prep time: 45 minutes, plus cooling

Cooking time: 1 hour 25 minutes

For the cake, you will need...

225g plain flour, sifted

350g caster sugar

85g cocoa powder

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

250ml whole milk, room temperature

2 large eggs

125ml vegetable oil (or any flavourless oil)

250ml boiling water

2 tablespoons instant coffee

For the rocky road, you will need...

250g dark chocolate, chopped

250g milk chocolate, chopped

100g unsalted butter

200g malted milk biscuits, roughly broken

100g marshmallows (if mini, that’s great – if they are big they will need cutting into smaller pieces)

200g glacé cherries, halved

2 tablespoons icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease the base and sides of a 25cm round cake tin. Cut out two rounds of baking paper and use one to line the tin, putting the other one aside for later.

2. Put the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and give it all a whisk.

3. Put the milk, eggs and oil into a jug and whisk until they are combined. Add to the dry mix and whisk to a smooth batter.

4. Using the same jug, measure out the boiling water and the coffee. Mix together and pour into the batter. You won’t actually taste the coffee in the cake, but it enhances the flavour of the chocolate, so you should taste a lot of chocolate. This feels weird, and it seems the two will not mix together. But I promise that they will, so persevere and continue to mix until you get a smooth batter. But be careful – the water will be very hot.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake on the middle shelf for 45–50 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

6. Meanwhile prepare the rocky road by putting the two chocolates and the butter into a microwaveable bowl and melting in the microwave until the mixture is smooth. Do this in 30-second and then 10-second bursts, stirring between bursts.

7. Now add the biscuits, marshmallows and glacé cherries, and mix well until everything is coated.

8. Pour the mixture all over the cooled cake, using the back of a spoon to help spread it out if needed. Now take the extra round of baking paper you cut out earlier, place it on top and press firmly to flatten. Place in the fridge for 2 hours.

9. Take the paper off the top and turn out on to a cake stand or serving plate.

10. Now take off the other piece of paper and dust the cake with icing sugar before slicing.

Nadiya’s British Food Adventure (Michael Joseph £20) is out now. Photography by Chris Terry.