White Chocolate, Pistachio, and Apricot Bark
Photo: Jeffery Cross; Styling: Kelly Allen
Brightly colored fruit and nuts decorate this festive version of holiday bark. Making bark is easy--just melt chocolate, spread it out, and add your favorite toppings. We added one important step, though: tempering the chocolate (carefully melting and cooling it to specific temperatures while adding large chunks of unmelted chocolate) so the bark stays shiny and snappy. For other flavor options, try Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark or Nutella Bark.
How to Make It
Step 1
1
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2
2
Put chopped chocolate in a shallow, medium heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 in. water to a bare simmer. Set bowl over pan and heat chocolate, stirring often, until melted and registers about 110° on a digital or instant-read thermometer, 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 3
3
Remove bowl from water and dry underside. Let chocolate cool (at first, it will rise about 5°), stirring constantly, to 95°, 5 to 12 minutes. Add large chocolate pieces and stir constantly until chocolate cools to 86° to 88°, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon out unmelted chocolate and save for other uses.
Step 4
4
Pour melted chocolate onto center of parchment and spread with an offset spatula or flexible scraper to about 1 in. from pan edges. Sprinkle with pistachios, cranberries, and apricots and gently pat them into chocolate. Sprinkle with salt.
Step 5
5
Set pan on a cooling rack and let stand at room temperature until chocolate is firm, about 1 1/2 hours. Cut or break bark into pieces.
Step 6
6
Make ahead: Up to 1 month, airtight at room temperature.
Ingredients
1 pound white chocolate bars, chopped, plus 4 oz. of the same chocolate, broken into 2 large pieces
1/3 cup roasted salted shelled pistachios
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots (preferably Blenheim)
3/4 teaspoon flake sea salt
Directions
Step 1
1
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2
2
Put chopped chocolate in a shallow, medium heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 in. water to a bare simmer. Set bowl over pan and heat chocolate, stirring often, until melted and registers about 110° on a digital or instant-read thermometer, 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 3
3
Remove bowl from water and dry underside. Let chocolate cool (at first, it will rise about 5°), stirring constantly, to 95°, 5 to 12 minutes. Add large chocolate pieces and stir constantly until chocolate cools to 86° to 88°, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon out unmelted chocolate and save for other uses.
Step 4
4
Pour melted chocolate onto center of parchment and spread with an offset spatula or flexible scraper to about 1 in. from pan edges. Sprinkle with pistachios, cranberries, and apricots and gently pat them into chocolate. Sprinkle with salt.
Step 5
5
Set pan on a cooling rack and let stand at room temperature until chocolate is firm, about 1 1/2 hours. Cut or break bark into pieces.
Step 6
6
Make ahead: Up to 1 month, airtight at room temperature.
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