Hi everyone and welcome back
Today I’m sharing with you a Christmas recipe for peppermint bark. This is a great edible
gift to give to your work colleagues, friends at school, or anyone else. It’s really simple
to make but it’s delicious and festive so lets get started.
Peppermint bark is essentially chocolate topped with candy canes. You can make as many layers
of chocolate as you would like, I’m sticking with three. Two layers of white chocolate
and one of dark.
Start off by chopping your white chocolate into smaller pieces. I always just buy the
blocks of chocolate but if you would rather you can use chocolate chips, just make sure
they are actual chocolate. A lot of times they are chocolate compound which doesn’t
actually contain the cocoa butter. In small amounts you don’t notice it too much but
for this recipe make sure you get the real thing.
Once the chocolate is in smaller pieces transfer it into a heat proof bowl. You can either
melt this in the microwave or over a double boiler, just make sure to do it slowly so
the chocolate doesn’t burn. If your melting it over a double boiler heat a small amount
of water in a saucepan. Once it is boiling place the bowl of chocolate over the top,
making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Immediately turn the heat
off, the heat trapped in by the bowl is more than enough to melt the chocolate.
While the chocolate is beginning to melt we can prepare the tin. I’m covering it in
a layer of foil so once the peppermint bark has completely set, I can easily just pull
it out. Alternatively you can just pour the chocolate onto a baking sheet topped with
baking paper. I won’t be as uniform but it will still work great.
Stir the chocolate around to make sure it’s melting evenly. When it is completely smooth
we’re going to add a couple of teaspoons of a flavourless oil, like canola. Stay away
from olive oil, as it’s flavour is too strong. The oil makes the chocolate glossy and also
thins it out so when it comes time for cutting or breaking it up it’s a lot easier. Stir
the oil in until its well combined with the chocolate.
I’m making three layers of chocolate, two of white and one of dark so I’m going to
use two thirds of the chocolate now and leave the last third for the top. Either pour it
into the prepared tin or use a spoon or ladle. Pick the tin up and tip it around until the
chocolate has coated the base. Shake it side to side to make sure it is even and place
it into the fridge to harden up.
While it is setting up we can get started on the dark chocolate. Cut it up into smaller
pieces, this just helps it melt a lot easier and place all of the chocolate into a bowl.
Using the same saucepan as before, make sure the water is boiling. Place the bowl of chocolate
over the top and turn the heat off.
While waiting for the dark chocolate to melt I’m going to crush up come candy canes.
Make sure they are all unwrapped and place them into a plastic bag. This part is great
stress relief. Either use a rolling pin or something heavy with a flat base like a fry
pan to begin to smash up the candy canes. They should start to break up into smaller
pieces. A good variety of sizes is great, some bigger pieces and some smaller pieces.
Pour the crushed candy canes out into a bowl.
Once the dark chocolate is fully melted pour in a teaspoon of oil and mix together. I’ve
used less oil for the dark chocolate as I’m not using as much chocolate. The white chocolate
in the tin should have hardened by now so pour in the dark over the top and tip around
to make sure the white chocolate is completely coated. Place back into the fridge to set.
The white chocolate from earlier should still be melted, but if it has begun to harden just
place it back over the hot water for a few minutes. Pour it over the set dark chocolate,
turning the tin to make sure it is evenly covered. While the white chocolate is still
melted take handfuls of the crushed candy canes and sprinkle it over the chocolate.
It should sink in so when the white chocolate has set it will stay in place. Place the peppermint
bark into the fridge for at least 15 minutes to make sure all of the chocolate has completely
set.
When the peppermint bark has set lift up the foil and remove it from the tin. Place the
bark on a chopping board and either break it into smaller pieces or use a hot knife
to cut it. It’s quite rich so don’t make the pieces too big. If you would like to give
it as a gift wrap it up in cellophane and tie a bow at the top. The peppermint bark
will last in the fridge for a few weeks. I hope you enjoyed this video. For more Christmas
recipes take a look at these mini Gingerbread Houses. Thank you for watching and I will
see you in my next video. Bye.