As I had mentioned, I had been perusing the internet earlier this week in search of recipes for our Christmas dinner... and as one might guess, the dessert course was of particular interest to me. Luckily I didn't have to spend too much time searching, thanks to an early introduction to this Peppermint Bark Brownie recipe through my Pulse feed. Unfortunately however, none of the grocery stores near us seemed to carry any peppermint bark. Being an overly ambitious masochist, this of course didn't deter me but rather inspired me to make my own batch of peppermint bark from scratch instead.
As such, we bought two of the largest blocks of chocolate I have ever seen and settled on a tin of blue mint candies after multiple laps around the candy aisle failed to turn up any candy canes or red and white colored mints. Admittedly, I didn't do too much research before going with this recipe for peppermint bark from the Food Network but it worked out in the end. I was really pleased that the layers of dark and white chocolate stayed in tact (no separation!) but regretted not spreading the chocolate out a little thinner. My bark therefore ended up being beefier than I had hoped, making it difficult to bite into.
All in all, I wouldn't discourage any one from trying this recipe but there are a couple more things I'd look out for if I had to do it again:
* Melting the blocks of chocolate should be an exercise in patience. Be sure to take your time and keep your heat low no matter how antsy you get.
* When melting the white chocolate, use a new bowl or clean out the bowl you have been using and make sure it is completely dry before you begin.
* When pouring on the white chocolate layer, the dark chocolate should be firm but still tacky to the touch. If it has hardened too much, the white chocolate won't be able to adhere to the dark chocolate, resulting in the separation of layers.
Still, there isn't much to complain about when it comes to minty chocolate. Even the blue mints turned out to be a pretty variation of it's traditional form.
I did eventually try the Peppermint Bark Brownie recipe but wasn't as thrilled with the results as much as I had hoped. The solid chunks of chocolate and melted mint candies, made the brownies almost impossibly hard which wasn't much fun to cut, serve, or chew. I'm thinking I might of had more luck with this recipe instead. Still, I guess it goes to show that it's often times best not to mess with a classic!
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