Chocolate Bark

Mission:  You have 1 hour to prepare for seeing a friend on a various special occasion and you have yet to shower, or buy present.

What do you do? 

Pick up a Crappy bottle of wine and limp bunch of flowers on the way? LAME

Apologize for forgetting and feel crappy? LAME

NO! – Problem solved – make some chocolate bark  AWESOME!

Everyone will normally have some left over holiday chocolate [no matter what time of year] – maybe a broken Santa or a bar of chocolate you were saving for Easter/mothers day/when no-one was looking – for me it is always chocolate coins and flavored bars.  They seem to multiply in the cupboard like Lindt Bunnies! 

Honestly if you are ever in a rush this is so simple to make and the longest part is the cooling time (which is clearly the time that it takes you to shower, dress and put on lippy / change your outfit 40 times to return to the first option – we have all been there!) 

Now how yummy does that look? 

This slab is dark and white chocolate with chocolate covered pretzels (better than sliced bread – I would seriously consider fighting a priest for these), chocolate covered honeycomb (almost as good as a crunchie but better because you can eat them surreptitiously when no-one is looking and they wont notice – apart from the gob full ladylike bite that you are gobbling gracefully nibbling!!!), and marshmallows. 

So so easy I can’t say it enough

• Take some good quality – 70%ish – dark chocolate (for ones this size of this post about 1-2 bars – roughly 300g) and some good quality white chocolate, and the toppings of you choice/whatever you have lying around
• Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave at 30 second intervals (or over simmering water but that is like watching paint dry for me and I usually eat the chocolate!)
• Then melt the white chocolate in a microwave at 30 second intervals
• Pour the dark chocolate onto a piece of baking parchment (I use a baking sheet/tin to stableize it and then you can move it easily too)
• Don’t spread it out just pour it in the middle
• Then pour the white chocolate in ‘blobs’ around where the dark chocolate is
• Take a fork and make pretty swirls with the chocolate (my fave bit!)
• Then place/throw toppings in accurate/random places and leave to chill – usually chill for 2 hours at room temp or cooler OR if you are pushed for time 45 mins in the fridge

Now you will be as awesome as Hotel Chocolat for a fraction of the price!

Here are two more: left- Oreo mini cookies (happy 100th birthday Oreo!) and mini marshmallows.  right – brazil nuts and crystallized stem ginger

Enjoy! and Happy Baking