Woof! Sweetheart Chocolate Bark

I was making chocolate bark on Tuesday for a couple of my long-distance Valentines when I realized that I had never posted my bark recipe on this blog. The omission HAD to be rectified! Chocolate bark is one of the easiest and most popular gift treats in my kitchen.

I was given the recipe by my neighbor in Hawley, Massachusetts, Philip Keenan. Phil is a selectman, a chef, and a builder—and he’s good at all three jobs. I made the bark a few years back on a Valentine’s Day broadcast on my local public-radio station.

In case you’d care to listen, here’s the link, courtesy of WFCR. (My favorite baritone, Don Freeman, and my favorite pianist, Alice Parker, joined me in the serenade at the end. I couldn't let Valentine's Day go by without a love song!)

Feel free to vary this recipe. Tiny jelly beans make nice filler at Easter, and crushed candy canes are Christmas-y, but the cranberries and almonds are my favorite add-in.

As I said on the broadcast, I recommend using the highest quality chocolate you can get. If you can’t handle three double boilers, just use two kinds of chocolate as I did in the picture below and on the radio.

Do not double the recipe unless you have two cookie sheets. I tried doing it on one sheet this week. Although I’m sure my Valentines won’t complain (well, I hope they won’t complain) I thought the layer of chocolate was too thick for optimal flavor and texture.

Have fun!



Sweetheart Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

butter as needed
1/2 to 1 cup blanched almonds (according to your taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 cup dried cranberries (again, to taste)
1/3 pound milk chocolate
1/3 pound dark chocolate
1/3 pound white chocolate

Instructions:

Butter a cookie sheet. Place the almonds on it, and toast them in a preheated 350-degree oven for 8 minutes. Toss the almonds around on the sheet, sprinkle the salt on them, and toast for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove the nuts from the oven, and put them on a paper towel to drain and cool. When they are cool, sprinkle them on a parchment- or silicone-covered cookie sheet. Sprinkle the cranberries on as well.

In each of three separate double-boiler pans (or their equivalent), boil an inch or two of water. While the water is coming to a boil, separately chop the milk, dark, and white chocolate into fairly uniform pieces. Place each chocolate in a pan on the top of one double boiler, turn off the heat below the boiled water, and stir the chocolates as they melt.

When the chocolates have melted, place alternating teaspoonsful of each on top of the cranberries and almonds. Swirl or splatter them together to make a pleasing pattern. Set the chocolate aside to cool and harden. (Do not refrigerate it.) This is best when eaten within 48 hours.

Makes 16 large or 32 small pieces of bark.