Chocolate bark

Name: Chocolate bark
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 3
Ingredients: Dark chocolate bar 10 oz; Cookies 4 oz; Colored candies green 5 tbsp; White chocolate 1 oz; Dark chocolate bar 10 oz; Roasted salted peanuts 3 oz; Peanut butter 3 tbsp; White chocolate bar 10 oz; Roasted salted pistachios 3 oz; Cranberries dried 3 oz

Vegetarian

Difficulty: Average
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Makes: 3 pieces
Cost: Average
Note + 2 hours at room temperature to allow the chocolate to solidify

PRESENTATION

Are you ready to envelop yourself in a swirl of sweetness and imagination straight from the United States? Chocolate bark is all this and much more! The name of this sweet refers to the irregular shaped fragments of chocolate, which resemble the bark of a tree. The rustic and messy shape is their distinguishing feature: there are no rules or models to follow, you can mix and match whatever ingredients you have in mind, even the strangest of combinations, when creating your chocolate bark. These morish sweets are especially popular during the holidays: they are so simple to prepare that just like sweets, chocolates or praline almonds, they make a fun gift idea, obviously customized to the tastes of whoever will receive them! Tempted but feeling a little overwhelmed? Perfect! Let instinct be your guide, and use chocolate much like a painter uses their canvass, to reproduce you abstract ideas of goodness: sweets, nuts, salt, candied fruit...they all work a treat when it comes to chocolate bark! We created three different versions, tempted to taste some?

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for chocolate bark with cookies and candies: Dark chocolate 10 oz (300 g) - bar; Cookies 4 oz (110 g); Colored candies 5 tbsp (50 g) - green; White chocolate 1 oz (50 g)

... with peanut butter: Dark chocolate 10 oz (300 g) - bar; Roasted salted peanuts 3 oz (80 g); Peanut butter 3 tbsp (50 g)

... with pistachios and cranberries: White chocolate 10 oz (300 g) - bar; Roasted salted pistachios 3 oz (80 g); Cranberries 3 oz (80 g) - dried

Tempering the chocolate

To prepare chocolate bark, start by tempering the chocolate with the seeding method, to make crunchy and shiny chocolate bars at home that will for longer without softening. You still need to start with already tempered chocolate bars 1: to check, test the bar by checking for a snapping noise when you break off a piece. Start by finely chopping the chocolate with a knife 2, then place two third of the chopped chocolate in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time with a spatula 3

until fully melted 4. Now remove the chocolate from the microwave and add the remaining third of chopped chocolate 5. Stir thoroughly with a spoon, until all the chocolate melts evenly 6. Now you can start making chocolate bark!

Preparing chocolate bark with cookies and colored candies

Pour the melted dark chocolate in a 9 x 17.72 inch tray lined with parchment paper and spread the chocolate with the back of a spoon to create a 0.09-0.12 inch thick slab 1. Add the decorations while the chocolate is still warm: break up the biscuits by hand and spread them evenly over the surface 2, then sprinkle with the colored candies 3.

Lastly, melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie and use a paper cone or spoon to create diagonal lines along the entire slab 4. Once you have finished adding all the garnishes 5, leave the slab of chocolate to solidify for 2 hours at room temperature. Once crystallized, you can break it up by hand into irregular shaped pieces 6, or cut it with a smooth bladed knife.

... with peanut butter

Proceed to temper the dark chocolate according to the procedure described in the special section at the start of the recipe. Pour the melted dark chocolate in a 9 x 17.72 inch tray lined with parchment paper and spread the chocolate with the back of a spoon 1 to create a 0.09-0.12 inch thick slab. Now place the peanut butter in a bowl and heat in the microwave for 20 seconds for a more fluid consistency, then spread it over the chocolate surface using a teaspoon 29. Create irregular decorative patterns using the back of a teaspoon 3.

Lastly, sprinkle the peanuts over the surface 4. Once you have finished adding all the garnishes 5, leave the slab of chocolate to solidify for at least 2 hours at room temperature. Once crystallized, you can break it up by hand into irregular shaped pieces 6, or cut it with a smooth bladed knife.

... with pistachios and cranberries

Proceed to temper the white chocolate according to the procedure described in the special section at the start of the recipe. Pour the melted white chocolate in a 9 x 17.72 inch tray lined with parchment paper and spread the chocolate with the back of a spoon to create a 0.09-0.12 inch thick slab 1. Immediately sprinkle the pistachios 2 and cranberries 3 over the surface. Lastly, leave the white chocolate slab to solidify for at least 2 hours at room temperature. Once the time is up, your chocolate bark is ready to be enjoyed, or gifted!

Storage

Chocolate bark can be stored in a glass container at room temperature, for up to 30 days.

Tips

There are infinite versions of chocolate bark. Why? Because your taste will guide you! So give free rein to your imagination and use whatever ingredients you prefer. Here are a few examples: Salt flakes, or other kinds of nuts or candied fruit. Our advice is not to temper the chocolate before decorating, because if tempered chocolate is not used immediately, it loses its properties; it is best to repeat the procedure for each type of chocolate bark candy you wish to make.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.