Thursday, December 23, 2010

Winter Bark

Tis the season for bark, and thank goodness for that, because bark is one of the simplest holiday treats to concoct!
After making cookies, pies, tarts, meringues, cakes, trifles, and truffles, this will almost feel like cheating but the taste is not cheated, not one bit. It's as easy as this: 1) Melt some chocolates. 2) Add some nuts, berries, or candies. 3) Stick in the fridge for an hour and Voila! 4) Marvel at the magic.
And best of all you can be an artist in your very own kitchen. That's right - it's time to break out your inner Matisse...
or Jackson Pollock...
Just have fun with it! You can't mess up the presentation of this, I promise. And even if you do, you can eat it all and no one will ever know ;-)
For this bark I stuck with the simplicity and used only white chocolate, dark chocolate, and peanuts, but feel free to let your imagination run wild.

Winter Bark
adapted from Martha Stewart

yields 1 1/4 pounds

Ingredients:
8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
7 ounces (1 1/2 cups) salted cocktail peanuts

Place white chocolate in a heatproof bowl, set over a pan of simmering water, stirring frequently, until chocolate melts. Remove from heat and set aside. Place bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt the same way as the white chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts.

Spread on a lined, rimmed baking sheet, spreading peanuts in a single layer, and drop spoonfuls of white chocolate on top.
Swirl chocolates with a skewer. Refrigerate until bark is set, about 1 hour. Break bark into large pieces. Bark will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks! Enjoy.

Pin It

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful bark, you did a wonderful job with the marbeling. Do you ever have trouble with the white chocolate? I've worked with it a few times when making chocolate covered strawberries and I had a hard time getting it to the right consistency.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so beautiful! I don't know anyone who wouldn't be happy to get a little package of this. Love the idea of adding peanuts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks!

    Roxan, I do find that white chocolate can burn more easily. I find that if you chop it very finely and make sure your double broiler isn't too high, it melts quickly and evenly!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So pretty! I've been looking for a simple bark recipe without peppermint. I may save this one for next year!

    ReplyDelete

What's Hot This Week?