Homemade chocolate bark is one of life's joys. Whilst not exclusive to Christmas, it's great for festive parties, after dinner treats or gifts. This swirled chocolate bark recipe really is the easiest one ever. It's a simple technique which gives great results and requires absolutely no melting of chocolate in bowls.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Setting Time30 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: After Dinner, Gift
Cuisine: British
Keyword: chocolate bark, chocolates, dark chocolate, gift, milk chocolate, white chocolate
Line a small baking tray, measuring 30cm x 23cm (12 inch x 9 inch), with unbleached baking paper.
Unwrap the three bars of chocolate and place them slightly apart on the baking tray. What order you do this in is up to you.
Place the tray in the middle of the oven and turn it on to 50℃ (120℉). Set the timer for ten minutes. Exactly how long it takes will depend on how quickly your oven heats up and how thick your chocolate bars are.
Check on the chocolate at this point to see if it's melted. If it has, remove from the oven. If not, leave for a further 2-5 minutes or until it has melted.
As soon as the chocolate is out of the oven, swirl the chocolates together using a skewer or knife. Keep going until you're happy with the result.
Press any toppings lightly into the chocolate whilst it's still in a melted state. Likewise scatter any sprinkles on top.
Place the tray in a cool place to set. Don't use the fridge, however, as it might cause the chocolate to bloom or go dull. It will take anywhere between half an hour and an hour to set, but do make sure it's hard before trying to cut it or break it up.
Once the chocolate is hard, use a knife to cut the bark into irregular pieces. It tends to do this naturally anyway once you set a knife to it. If you try to break it with your hands, you're likely to spoil it with finger marks.
Place in an airtight container and keep somewhere cool. It should look good for at least a week. If gifting, wrap the chocolate in suitable bags, tins or boxes and again, store in a cool place.
Notes
For the toppings, I used mini Christmas tree shortbreads, white chocolate covered pretzels and various festive sprinkles.Other suitable festive toppings include candy canes, crushed or whole, coloured chocolate buttons such as Smarties or popping candy.You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.