Christmas Chocolate Bark
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Christmas Chocolate Bark celebrates festive flavours with crisp dark chocolate rippled through with creamy white chocolate, scattered with caramelised nuts, cranberries and stem ginger.
All members of the family receive a chocolate selection box every year from my mum. Now these selection boxes are aimed at children so they tend towards the more fun bars. My husband and I were commiserating though that they don’t have a whole nut or fruit and nut bar in there anymore (the ‘everyone’s a fruit and nut case’ jingle will always live in my brain rent free). Thinking about it I guess it’s because of nut allergies which now makes sense.
So this is my homemade version of a fancified festive fruit and nut chocolate bar. A grown up Christmas Chocolate Bark that’s a pretty and delicious gift for friends and family or to serve with coffee after your Christmas feasting.
We’re using the most divine Belgian dark chocolate, drizzled through with dreamy white chocolate and topped with a scattering of sweet and salty caramelised nuts, spicy diced stem ginger and a chewy fruity pop of dried cranberries.
Incredibly simple to make, if you fancy tempering your dark chocolate, which you don’t have to do, I will take you through that and also give you a few ideas on how to package up your Christmas Bark without resorting to tacky cellophane.
Why You’ll Love This Christmas Chocolate Bark
- Gifting. The great thing about chocolate bark is that it is beautiful and always happily received.
- Festive flavours. This flavour combination is a perfectly rich and dark, sweet and salty, nutty and fruity with a bit of fire from the ginger.
- Simple to make. This really is an easy project and so satisfying as it looks so fancy.
- Economical. If you buy your family expensive chocolate each year, this version can be made at a fraction of the cost, will look gorgeous and you’ll have fun making it.
Ingredients Needed
Mixed nuts. I made up a huge batch of Caramelised Mixed Nuts for gifting also and kept a few back for scattering over this Chocolate Bark. You can use any mixed nuts, for example the easy bags of nut mix you can buy from the supermarket. Or just mix your own pistachios and almonds if you want to keep it simple.
Caster sugar. This is used to make the caramel for the nuts. You can use granulated sugar if you prefer.
Dark chocolate. Buy the best dark chocolate you can get away with here. I must recommend 70% Callebaut dark chocolate chips which delivers such a gorgeously rich flavour. Since you’re using 300g, that is about the least amount you can get away with tempering successfully so if you’re up for a bit of fun why not try tempering it too.
White chocolate. We are only using 100g here which is too small an amount to temper properly so you can give that a miss unless you temper much more than you need which isn’t necessary. You could buy the Callebaut white chocolate chips were are excellent quality but it’s quite a lot to buy for one recipe if you don’t have it in so you can settle for a really good bar from the supermarket. I like Green and Blacks and would normally reach for that. However I used M&S for the photos and that worked just as well.
Dried cranberries. These are quite sweet unlike fresh cranberries and are a lot juicier than regular raisins plus they look and taste very festive.
Stem ginger in syrup. We’re talking about the jars of stem ginger in syrup which are easy to get hold in the UK in larger supermarkets in the baking aisle. You don’t need the syrup, just one ball of ginger. You can substitute for crystallised ginger or you can make your own stem ginger at home.
Sea salt. Use flaky sea salt here and sprinkle over the top of the bar for a lovely gentle flavour.
How To Make Christmas Chocolate Bark
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
A couple of hours (or a couple of days) before you make your chocolate bark you need to prepare the caramelised nuts.
Heat sugar in dry pan until melted and golden, then add the nuts and quickly stir to coat. Tip onto baking parchment to cool and set for at least 2 hours before dicing into praline pieces.
When you are ready to make your chocolate bark you need to melt the dark chocolate, it’s up to you whether you temper it at this stage. It’s not necessary but it does improve the snap and the glossy chocolate edges.
Pour the melted (and potentially tempered) dark chocolate onto a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. There is too little white chocolate to temper so unless you melt more and use it for other things then you don’t need to worry about it.
Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate in zig zags then using a skewer drag the white chocolate down the dark chocolate and then across.
Scatter the dried cranberries, diced stem ginger and pieces of caramelised nuts over the top of the melted chocolate. Allow to set for at least 2-3 hours before snapping the chocolate into shards of bark.
Tempering Chocolate
I have a full guide on how to temper chocolate on my website as a few years ago I was a tempering queen and made my own chocolates which I sold on my cake stall. I even taught classes on it at the Women’s Institute. It’s easier than you think but you do need a digital thermometer to do it properly. I advise you to read my guide if you are going to give it a try but the essential steps are:
- Measure and set aside ⅓ of the chocolate. This is called the 'seed'.
- Melt ⅔ of the chocolate slowly in a bowl over hot water until it reaches 55°C (131°F).
- Remove from heat, place on a tea towel, and add the ⅓ chocolate seed, stirring until it drops to 27-28°C (80-82°F).
- Place the bowl back on heat, bring it up to 31-32°C (88-89°F) quickly.
- Your chocolate is now tempered and ready to use. You should work swiftly to avoid losing temper.
FAQs
No, it’s not a necessity. However, since I have always tempered my chocolate for these kinds of chocolatey treats and know actually how easy it is (especially if you have a digital thermometer) then I do recommend at least tempering the dark chocolate if you fancy having a go. The snap of the dark chocolate is so worth it. The glossy shine at the edges looks so pretty too – although a lot of the middle is covered up by white chocolate (which you don't need to temper as there is too little of it to make it a success). So it won’t matter if you don’t temper the dark chocolate, but if you do you’ll love the elevation of your chocolate bark.
If the chocolate is tempered then it can last for up to about a month if stored correctly. If it’s not tempered then a week or two.
Chocolate bark is best stored in a cool dry place in an airtight container. Do not store chocolate in direct sunlight, fluctuating temperature or the refrigerator otherwise it will start to bloom.
More Festive Chocolate Bark Flavours
Cranberry and Orange. Add 4 drops food grade orange oil into the dark chocolate while it is melting for a grown up version of Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Then scatter with just the dried cranberries and a touch of sea salt.
Almond and Mint. Add 1 drop of food grade peppermint oil into the dark chocolate while it is melting. Decorate the chocolate bark with caramelised flaked almonds.
Gifting Presentation Ideas
Rather than opt for cellophane wrapping for my Christmas Chocolate Bark I wanted to choose something more sustainable. So here are some ideas of how you can gift your chocolate and make the packaging part of the gift too.
Pretty jars. Kilner jars or Weck jars are perfect as they look pretty and they can also be used again by the recipient. 2 x wide 250g jars work well.
Gift bags. Paper sandwich bags or gold paper sweet bags also look very nice. You can package it up with string.
Christmas ribbon. Choose your favourite festive coloured and sparkly ribbon and/or fabric to tie around the top of the jars.
More Festive Gifting Ideas You’ll Love
Homemade Crystallised Stem Ginger (or Candied Ginger) is a spicy treat. Excellent as a little nibble with some coffee, an adornment to baked goods or given away as a beautiful sparkly gift.
These simple Meringue Kisses are smooth and crisp on the outside and soft with a slight chew on the inside. You can keep them plain or give them beautiful colours or flavours.
These Sweet and Spicy Christmas Nuts are great for bringing out to a party or a really wonderful gift over the holiday season. They are a smoky, spicy, sweet and salty snack which can be made with any combination of leftover nuts.
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Christmas Chocolate Bark
Ingredients
- 50 g mixed nuts
- 25 g caster sugar
- pinch sea salt
- 300 g 70% dark chocolate
- 100 g white chocolate
- 30 g dried cranberries
- 1 ball stem ginger - 25g, diced
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Homemade Caramelised Nuts
- Place the nuts on a lined baking sheet and bake at 170°C / 150°C fan / gas mark 4 for 10 minutes.
- Remove the nuts from the oven to rest whilst you prepare the caramel.
- Pour the sugar into a medium sized saucepan in an even layer. Place on a gentle heat and watch carefully as the sugar caramelises. Move the saucepan ever so gently if you need to promote an even caramelisation, but don’t stir.
- Once the sugar has completely melted and turning a golden amber, add the salt then pour in the nuts. Quickly turn over into the sugar with a silicone spatula so they are all coated.
- Pour the nuts immediately onto baking parchment into an even layer and leave to cool for 1 hour. Dice the nuts into small pieces.
Chocolate Bark
- Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or bain marie or in the microwave in short bursts. It’s up to you whether you temper it at this stage. It’s not necessary but it does improve the snap and the glossy chocolate edges.
- Pour the melted (and potentially tempered) dark chocolate onto the prepared baking parchment into an even layer.
- Melt the white chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or bain marie or in the microwave in short bursts. There is too little white chocolate to temper so unless you melt more and use it for other things then you don’t need to worry about it.
- Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate in zig zags then, using a skewer, drag the white chocolate down through the dark chocolate and then across.
- Scatter the dried cranberries, diced stem ginger, caramelised nuts and sea salt over the top of the melted chocolate.
- Allow to set for at least 2-3 hours before snapping the chocolate into shards of bark.
