Chocolate: my first love

I can link chocolate to many of my childhood memories. My uncle giving me a Cadbury hollow Easter egg filled with chocolate roses for Easter. Helping my mom decorate her infamous gingerbread houses (an excuse to sneak tastes of the decorations) and patiently laying the chocolate mint "shingles" for the roof. Sorting through Godiva gift boxes my dad would receive as gifts at work for the best flavors. And, of course, baking up cookies and cakes in the kitchen for special desserts.

Before working with food became my career, I never thought about chocolate on a deeper level. I liked it. I ate it. Simple. Once I started developing recipes, especially sweets, I started to realize just how tricky chocolate can be. For example, I've tasted brownies with tons of chocolate in the batter that somehow manage to bake up more sugary than chocolaty and I've had more than my share of underbaked greasy treats claiming to be gooey or fudgy. They really just give you a stomachache. Too much cocoa powder can feel like you are biting into bitter dust and too much milk chocolate can make your back teeth ache without really satisfying. And that is just the flavor side of things. The technical side of chocolate can be even more challenging.

When my older sister and I would help our mom bake desserts for Christmas, one of our favorites were Nanaimo bars. A no-bake Canadian classic layered bar cookie that is topped with a mixture of melted chocolate and butter. One year my older sister was tasked to make the final layer. For some reason, her chocolate completely seized on her and turned into a mess of unspreadable chocolate instead of the intended smooth glossy product. Much teasing ensued...I'm talking for the next 3 or 4 Christmas's she was not allowed near the chocolate. [I'd like to pause and shout out to my sister Jen who is a great baker and note that this story is not a representation of her skills.] The truth of the matter is that it could have happened to any of us. Maybe the bowl wasn't properly cleaned. Maybe she accidentally dripped a drop of water in the mixture or it was on her spatula. It is easier to have a glitch with chocolate than without sometimes.

I learned how true that statement is when I was assigned to develop a chocolate bark recipe at work last year. After much work, failure and research, I finally came up with a method that takes patience, but not a candy thermometer. This might help my family understand why they all got the gift of chocolate bark this year!

So here is a step-by-step to help you make some chocolate bark: perfect for a holiday, gift or just because you love chocolate!

STEP 1: CHOP YOUR CHOCOLATE

You can start with any amount of good quality chocolate (no chips - no checkout candy bars) but the important thing is to chop it finely and make sure the pieces are uniform so it melts at a consistent rate.




STEP 2: PUT 2/3 OF THE CHOCOLATE IN A CLEAN HEATPROOF BOWL
 
Keep the rest of the chocolate near by and heat a few inches of water in a pot until steaming. Only steaming, no bubbles. Put a kitchen towel a few layers of paper towels on the counter next to the stove.


STEP 3: START MELTING

Put the bowl over the steaming water and start melting the chocolate, stirring often with a rubber spatula so you can scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl. Every few minutes, pick up the bowl and make sure the water in the pot is not bubbling. The goal is to melt the chocolate very slowly so that it melts without ever getting hot. If you remove the bowl from the pot, set it down on your towels next to the stove so the condensation of the bottom of your bowl does not drip into the chocolate.



 
STEP 4: ADDING THE RESERVED CHOCOLATE

As the chocolate starts to melt, add a few pieces at a time of the reserved chocolate. This helps keep the temperature of the melting chocolate from getting too hot. The mixture should always look like a mixture of chunky and smooth textures. If it's looking too smooth and you still have reserved chocolate, get that bowl off the pot and add some chocolate!

 


STEP 5: FINISH MELTING AND FLAVOR

Once you have added all the reserved chocolate and your mixture looks like the above photo, remove it from the pot of steaming water (onto your towel) and continue to stir as it melts. You can return the bowl to the heat from time to time for about 10 second intervals until, finally, it's all melted. If you want to add an extract, such as vanilla, peppermint, raspberry or coffee, add it now and stir just to combine it.


STEP 6: POUR AND TOP

Pour your chocolate into a foil lined baking sheet or dish (shiny side up) or, if you like free form, right onto a flat piece of foil and gently spread to however thick you like. Top your bark with any crunchy toppings or sprinkles you like. I topped mine with some chopped cookies in this batch, but nuts, coconut, dried fruit are all great. Just don't pick anything that will get really stale or melt.




STEP 7: WAIT AND BREAK

Let the chocolate harden at room temperature. If you didn't rush the melting process and your chocolate stayed "in temper" it will harden pretty quickly. It will lose the wet shiny look and become mat. Let it sit at least an hour to make sure it has hardened through the center. Then, the fun part, peel back the foil and start breaking into fun pieces. If you have extras, store at room temperature in an airtight container. It can last a few weeks but I doubt there will be any left by then.