Sunday, December 16, 2012

Christmas Crack!

Also known by its common name 'Peppermint Bark'
I used this recipe for the basics.



Ingredients (I recommend doubling):
12 oz Dark Chocolate
12 oz White Chocolate
8 Candy Canes

Directions:
Line a large cookie sheet with tinfoil

Put unwrapped candy canes in a ziplock bag & beat into small pieces with anything you have handy (I used a meat tenderizer - what aggression?)

While beating candy canes into submission, bring water to a simmer in a double boiler.

Temper or melt the dark chocolate in the double boiler.  Personally, I used the Wilton wafers and didn't bother with tempering. 

Spread the dark chocolate on the waiting cookie sheet.  The original recipe said 1/8", I took it down to roughly 1/16"*

let the dark chocolate cool while you clean the top pan & melt the white chocolate.  The original recipe says to put it in the fridge for cooling.  I found that putting it directly into the fridge made the edges curl up.  The second tray I did I left on the counter and just popped in the fridge for a few minutes at the end.

Mix 3/4 of the peppermint into the white chocolate and spread out over the dark chocolate. 

While the white choc. is still tacky, sprinkle the remaining peppermint bits over top.  Cool the same way as the dark choc.

When cooled, break apart by hand. 


The whole process takes ~20 min and costs ~$5 per recipe. 

* My first attempt the layers turned out 1/4" thick and when I tried to break it apart it split between the layers.  Too thick & too cold = no bonding between the choc. layers.