Monday, March 2, 2015

Delicious dark chocolate bark



I've been making dark chocolate bark for a few years, and it's always a winner!  Although keep in mind, as most cooks and bakers will tell you, you can't skimp when it comes to the quality of your ingredients.  Inna Garten say you have to use a good bottle of red wine even if you're just cooking with it.  And legendary chef and restauranteur Daniel Baloud will tell you that you must use a high-quality bread and butter when making a croque monsier.  So with this bark, i've used both Scharffen Berger's 70% bittersweet chocolate, and Valrhona's 70% Guanaja chocolate.  And then everything else was the best quality i could find, from the sea salt to the marcona almonds and even the dried organic blueberries.  The only "run of the mill" item i used was Trader Joe's roasted coconut chips, but i must say they were delicious and not too sweet.

I imagine you can top the bark with anything, but adding some sea salt to the top seems to be a winner.

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound of dark chocolate (or whatever kind of chocolate you like), finely chopped
  • 1-1/2 c. roasted marcona almonds (not in oil)
  • 1/2 c. dried blueberries
  • 1 c. roasted coconut chips
  • coarse sea salt - for sprinkling
If you need to temper the chocolate, please start here.  Otherwise, melt your chocolate slowly, and you should use chips, which are not meant to temper.  I melt the chocolate on a make-shift double-boiler, or in the microwave oven.

Once it melts, remove it and using a silicone spatula, spread it onto a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sea salt and whatever other ingredients you decide to use.  I've done it with just chocolate and sea salt and it's absolutely delicious and decadent.  Refrigerate for at least an hour so that it sets.  You can then break it up into whatever size you want.


Bon appetit!