Friday, August 02, 2002


not like a dog

chocolate bark, or chocolat mendiant (beggar's chocolate) is one of the best chocolate candies, and is so easy to make it's practically a crime. it requires no cooking, which is so essential in august!

line the bottom of a 9x9 or 9x13 pan with baking parchment, depending on how thick you want the bark. sprinkle the bottom of the pan with 2 cups of nuts, either all macademias, or i like a mix of macadamias, whole pistachios, and silvered almonds. you could also add 1/4-1/2 c. sultana raisins or dried apricots, if you like. you will need to chop the macadamias, or at least halve them. the sultanas or apricots should also be coarsely chopped for best effect. if you can't afford or find macadamias, hazelnuts are great too.

you need about 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. of chocolate, depending on whether you want to completely cover the nuts, or whether you like the nuts peeking through. also some people like just enough chocolate to hold the nuts together, while others like a really thick bark. whatever. experiment!

i'd prefer valrhona manjari 64% for this recipe, but a 70% dark chocolate is actually good, if you like it. chop this up and melt it in the microwave, about 1-1/2 mins. on med-high. the chocolate will keep its shape, so stir it to melt. you may have to nuke it again once or twice for 30 seconds, depending on the weather.

great, now you've got the chocolate. pour it over as evenly as possible until you achieve the thickness you desire. to get it to hold together, the largest chunks or slivers really need to be at least 1/2 to 2/3 buried, i think. you may need to remelt the chocolate in the microwave. or not.

anyway, after you've poured, just cover the pan with wrap so the chocolate doesn't absorb any off flavors from the fridge and chill for about 45-60 mins. until firm. break it into attractive pieces.

all yummy. a fun variation would be to mix dark and milk or milk and white chocolates. melt them separately and pour them in thick overlapping streaks or stripes for a decorative effect. you can't really go wrong here.

posted by fortune | 6:15 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments