Chocolate Bark Candy Recipes - Chocolate Chocolate and More! (2024)

FAQs

What brand of chocolate is best for bark? ›

Use quality chocolate.

For bark-making, use the best chocolate within your budget, either in bars or discs meant for melting and baking. Valrhona, Callebaut, Scharffen Berger, Guittard, and Ghirardelli are all good options.

That's because your chocolate wasn't tempered. Tempered chocolate sets at room temperature and has a snap just like a chocolate bar you buy from the store.

To keep your chocolate bark from melting, a proper tempering process is necessary. Tempering is a process where the chocolate is brought to certain temperatures, which essentially optimizes the form of the cocoa butter fat crystals and keeps it stable.

Let the chocolate bark harden at room temperature which will take 2-4 hours. If you live in a hot climate or you are in a hurry, place the tray on a flat surface in the refrigerator (or even in the freezer) to harden for about 15 minutes; Once completely hardened use your hands to break the bark into pieces.

How to Store Chocolate Bark. Once the chocolate is set completely and broke into pieces, store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, ideally less than 70ºF. Properly tempered chocolate will keep for several weeks and doesn't need to be refrigerated.

The bark doesn't involve any molds or dipping techniques—and it's delicious! Whenever working with chocolate it must be tempered; we're about to simplify the science and make it easy for you. Just keep an instant-read thermometer handy for spot checking temperatures.

The white appearance is due to a process known as 'blooming' - either 'fat bloom'. This occurs when the cocoa butter in the chocolate separates and rises to the surface due to temperature fluctuations, or 'sugar bloom', which happens when the sugar in the chocolate absorbs moisture and then crystallises on the surface.

Tips for Making the Best Peppermint Bark

You can also pick up the baking pan and tip it to help the chocolate slide around. Why are my layers separating? You may have chilled the layers for too long. Only refrigerate the bottom and middle layer for 10–15 minutes before spreading the next layer on top.

To thin melted chocolate, add a small amount of neutral oil, like vegetable oil or cocoa butter, stirring gently until it reaches the desired consistency. Melt slowly to avoid overheating, and keep water out to prevent the chocolate from seizing.

Seized chocolate occurs when the chocolate you're melting comes into contact with moisture. Chocolate itself doesn't contain any moisture, so adding a small amount of liquid can disrupt the melting process.

Why won t my chocolate bark harden? ›

However, if your chocolate hasn't set, there are a few reasons why this could be. It could be that your room temperature is too high. If the temperature is over 68 F, this can cause problems. The ideal setting temperature is between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

You don't add ingredients to chocolate to make it harden, you temper it by heating it to a specific temperature, cooling it to another temperature, then heating it again. This causes the chocolate to crystalize in a way that leaves it hard and shiny. The temperatures are different for different kinds of chocolate.

Keeping the edge of the handle anchored on the cutting surface (for best control), use a rocking motion to chop. Now this won't work if you're chopping a very thick chocolate bar (think Trader Joe's mega-bars), but for wafers, discs, or thinner break-apart bars, a controlled rock is the way to go.

Tempered chocolate is wonderful to use when making homemade candy, such as truffles or peanut butter cups, or peppermint bark, because it maintains a nice smooth, shiny, and hard texture even at room temperature.

Storage. Store chocolate bark at room temperature in an airtight container, or the refrigerator. But serve it at room temperature, especially any with dried fruit.

Almond bark and white chocolate have a sweet flavor but differ in taste and texture. White chocolate is creamy and smooth with a mild sweetness, while almond bark has a crunchy texture due to almonds adding an extra layer of sweetness.

This chocolate bark is not to be confused with blocks of confectionery coating (compound chocolate made using vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter) that is sold as Almond Bark, Candi Quik, or Candy Coating which many people call chocolate bark.