Peppermint Bark

Peppermint bark, which consists of layers of dark chocolate ganache, white chocolate, and ground up peppermint is an extremely tasty dessert that can be combined in gift boxes, candy tins, melted into hot chocolate, added into a gift basket, or broken up in pieces and used as a garnish for other desserts (like chocolate mouse) or used in small chunks as a topping (like on ice cream). It’s especially popular around christmas time and throughout the holiday season and it looks especially festive and complex even though it’s really quite simple to make. This is a great way to fool family and friends into thinking you spent hours on a dessert when it really didn’t take much effort at all. Peppermint bark isn’t difficult to make but it does have a few steps so be sure to read all the instructions be for you begin making it.

To make your peppermint bark you will need the following:

about twenty ounces of good white chocolate, finely chopped
a package of red and white peppermint candies, crushed
eight ounces of dark chocolate, finely chopped
seven tablespoons of heavy cream    
one teaspoon of peppermint extract

Take a large cookie sheet and cover it with tinfoil securely. Measure a nine by thirteen rectangle on the foil and mark it out. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a double boiler and stir it until the chocolate is evenly melted. Pour a little less than a cup of the white chocolate onto the foil in the square that you've marked. Spread the chocolate out and let it fill the rectangle and the sprinkle one fourth a cup of the crushed peppermints over it. Place it into the refrigerator until it’s set - about fifteen minutes.

While the white chocolate is setting place the dark chocolate, the cream, and the peppermint extract into a saucepan over medium heat and stir until it’s melted evenly. Take the chocolate off the heat and let it cool until it’s barely warm then pour it over the white chocolate and spread it into an even layer. Chill until completely set, about twenty-five minutes. Once it’s set reheat the rest of the white chocolate and spread it over the dark chocolate, sprinkle with the rest of the crushed peppermints, and chill again until it’s firm.

Once your peppermint bark has set up completely in the fridge you’ll want to carefully pry it away from the tinfoil and onto a cutting board. Cut away and untrimmed edges and cut the rest of the bark in to triangles or squares which you can then package for gifts if you like. If you’re saving them for yourself just place them in a container with pieces of wax paper separating them (so they don’t stick together). If you do decide to put them in a tin of some sort or another kind of box for a gift it’s best that you wrap them up in plastic wrap before you put them in otherwise everything else in the box will end up smelling and tasting like peppermint as well.

Peppermint bark is a delicious treat and it works especially well as a gift with other holiday desserts as well. Small bits of this broken up are great as an ice cream topping, or sprinkled on top of brownies or cake. You can also use a few pieces of this in hot milk to make a minty hot chocolate mix. However you decide to use make sure to eat your peppermint bark within a few weeks and let it warm up a few minutes before eating so that you have the effect of the yummy chocolate and cream. Enjoy!