Peppermint Bark
The holiday season is among us, and with the holidays come presents! For my friends, I made peppermint bark!
One of the easiest, and best in my opinion, types of gifts to give are ones that you can eat. Everyone eats, right? And everyone likes candy, right? Well, maybe not everyone, but in my circle of friends, it's everyone. When we were discussing presents a few days ago, I still had no idea what I was going to give my friends. Then it hit me, like a 10 pound piece of peppermint bark: peppermint bark!
This bark is ridiculously easy to make. Like, it only has four ingredients easy. To start, melt semisweet chocolate and canola oil in a double boiler. Pour that into a foil-lined pan, and throw it in the refrigerator.
Next, melt white chocolate and canola oil in a double boiler and pour that into the same pan, over the set chocolate. Crush up some candy canes, and sprinkle them over the melted chocolate. Throw that into the refrigerator to set.
Once it's completely set (~30 minutes or so), lift the foil out of the pan, and break or cut the candy into pieces.
That's it! Wasn't that easy? And it's so cute! No one will ever know that it was this simple, unless of course they read this blog, too. Once again, Joy of Baking comes through! They're just so amazing over there!
Recipe (from Joy of Baking):
6 ounces (3/4 cup) semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I used canola, but just be sure to use a flavorless one)
6 ounces (3/4 cup) white chocolate, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup candy canes, crushed (I didn't measure, but I used 5)
1. Line an 8 inch pan with aluminum foil.
2. Melt semisweet chocolate with 1 teaspoon of oil over a pot of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate into the pan and tilt is so that the chocolate is evenly spread out. Refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate is set.
3. Melt the white chocolate with the other 1 teaspoon of oil over a pot of simmering water again. Pour it over the semisweet layer. You might want to let the white chocolate cool a little bit before you pour it because mine kind of melted the semisweet in some places as you can see. Sprinkle crushed candy canes evenly over the white chocolate, and place it in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes (you can certainly keep it in for longer, I had mine in for a few hours as I watched Law and Order: SVU).
4. Remove the bark by lifting the foil out of the pan and peeling the foil off of the chocolate. Break or cut the bark into small irregular pieces. Store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
The one complaint I have about this bark is that it isn't very bark-y. As in, it's pretty soft. Usually, peppermint bark is supposed to be hard and snappy. This one isn't, but in it's defense, I've been keeping it out on the counter, not in the fridge like I'm supposed to. Who knows, maybe it is snappy.
One of the easiest, and best in my opinion, types of gifts to give are ones that you can eat. Everyone eats, right? And everyone likes candy, right? Well, maybe not everyone, but in my circle of friends, it's everyone. When we were discussing presents a few days ago, I still had no idea what I was going to give my friends. Then it hit me, like a 10 pound piece of peppermint bark: peppermint bark!
This bark is ridiculously easy to make. Like, it only has four ingredients easy. To start, melt semisweet chocolate and canola oil in a double boiler. Pour that into a foil-lined pan, and throw it in the refrigerator.
Next, melt white chocolate and canola oil in a double boiler and pour that into the same pan, over the set chocolate. Crush up some candy canes, and sprinkle them over the melted chocolate. Throw that into the refrigerator to set.
Once it's completely set (~30 minutes or so), lift the foil out of the pan, and break or cut the candy into pieces.
That's it! Wasn't that easy? And it's so cute! No one will ever know that it was this simple, unless of course they read this blog, too. Once again, Joy of Baking comes through! They're just so amazing over there!
Recipe (from Joy of Baking):
6 ounces (3/4 cup) semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I used canola, but just be sure to use a flavorless one)
6 ounces (3/4 cup) white chocolate, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup candy canes, crushed (I didn't measure, but I used 5)
1. Line an 8 inch pan with aluminum foil.
2. Melt semisweet chocolate with 1 teaspoon of oil over a pot of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate into the pan and tilt is so that the chocolate is evenly spread out. Refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate is set.
3. Melt the white chocolate with the other 1 teaspoon of oil over a pot of simmering water again. Pour it over the semisweet layer. You might want to let the white chocolate cool a little bit before you pour it because mine kind of melted the semisweet in some places as you can see. Sprinkle crushed candy canes evenly over the white chocolate, and place it in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes (you can certainly keep it in for longer, I had mine in for a few hours as I watched Law and Order: SVU).
4. Remove the bark by lifting the foil out of the pan and peeling the foil off of the chocolate. Break or cut the bark into small irregular pieces. Store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
The one complaint I have about this bark is that it isn't very bark-y. As in, it's pretty soft. Usually, peppermint bark is supposed to be hard and snappy. This one isn't, but in it's defense, I've been keeping it out on the counter, not in the fridge like I'm supposed to. Who knows, maybe it is snappy.
Looking forward to my present ;)
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