So it was my main bae Lara's birthday today, and I couldn't afford (as much as I love her) to buy her a present. As a result, I kidded myself that making her something would be as thoughtful as buying a box of makeup or food that a professional has made. All it took was some chopping and chocolate melting and I had a cute gift that does, despite my trying hardest, look like I cheaped out on her. I did try to get you something nice baby I did. The flavours I used in this chocolate bark are very customisable, you could use any kind of dried fruit or nuts or even crushed toffees or mints. Nothing at all but chocolate is also possible, but I like the extra flavours and textures. Be very wary of your friend's allergies, as anaphylactic shock is not a nice birthday present.
1)The first step is to melt your chocolate. You can use milk or dark and also have some white chocolate to marble with the dark chocolate. Now me and chocolate melting do not get on, so my method is to have a bain marie, a bowl over simmering water, and turn the water off once it's boiled as I always end up burning the chocolate. If you are competent at melting chocolate, use any method you want. Buy more chocolate than it looks like you'll need, as a bar of it has much more surface area than volume.
2)Pour the chocolate into a small tray lined with baking parchment, you don't need to grease ontop of it but have some grease on the tray so the paper sticks neatly. Then, pour some white chocolate in streaks over the dark and use a knife to gently marble the white chocolate, but do not mix it with the dark, just swirl it in a little.
3)Sprinkle some chopped nuts and dried fruit over the chocolate, I used Brazil and walnuts and some dried apricots, but any will work well.
4)Let it set in the fridge until fully hardened. There's no point doing any Bake-Off style tempering or anything as the chocolate just won't stay shiny.
5)Take it out of the tin and peel off the parchment, then break it up into bite-sized pieces. Keep it cool while you send it to your friend so it stays fresh and the marble stays clear.
You're really inspiring !!
ReplyDelete