|
Baking Corner
| Regional
Foods | Cooking
Articles
|
Hints & Tips
| Culinary
Dictionary
|
Newspaper
Columns
This wonderful Peppermint Bark Candy recipe
was shared with me by my sister, Carol Arroyo, and her website called
The Baking Pan.
This Peppermint Bark is totally
delicious and addicting. In fact it is as good, or even better, than
the famous Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark. Give it a try!
Peppermint Bark Candy
Recipe Type:
Candy,
Chocolate
Yields: 2 pounds
Prep time: 2 hr
 Ingredients:
Candy Canes (6 ounce box of 12 candy canes)
16 ounces semisweet chocolate
8 drops peppermint oil, divided
16 ounces white chocolate
Preparation:
Line a
11x17x1-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper, allowing an
overhang on all sides of the pan. Rug a bit of
vegetable shortening or butter in the bottom of the pan corners as
well as the sides of the pan to help the parchment paper stay in
place.
Place the
candy canes in a large Ziplock plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to
crush the candy canes into pieces, about 1/4-inch. Separate the
larger pieces from the powdery crumbs by shaking the candy through a
sieve. Set the larger pieces and the powdery crumbs aside until
ready to use.
Semisweet Chocolate Layer:
-
In the
top of a double boiler over hot water, melt the semisweet
chocolate. Remove from heat just before all the chocolate is
melted. Stir with a clean and dry rubber spatula to finish
melting the remaining chocolate.
Learn How To Melt and Temper Chocolate.
-
When
the chocolate has melted, add 4 drops of peppermint oil; stir
until thoroughly combined.
-
Pour
the melted chocolate onto the prepared baking pan and evenly
spread over the bottom of the pan.
-
Place
the pan in the refrigerator and chill until the chocolate is
firm, approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
-
Remove
the pan from the refrigerator while melting the white chocolate.
This will allow the chilled chocolate to
warm a bit to help the layer adhere.
White
Chocolate Layer:
-
In a
clean bowl, melt the white chocolate in the top of a double
boiler over hot water. Remove from heat just before all the
chocolate is melted. Stir with a clean and dry rubber spatula to
finish melting the remaining white chocolate.
-
When
the white chocolate is melted, add 4 drops of peppermint oil;
stir until thoroughly combined. Stir in the candy cane powdery
crumbs.
-
Pour
the melted white chocolate directly over the top of the
semisweet chocolate layer. Use a spatula to quickly spread the
white chocolate evenly. Work quickly so that the semisweet
chocolate doesn't start melting and blending into the white
chocolate. Don't worry if the chocolates
do start blending together, the candy will still taste
delicious.
-
While the white
chocolate layer is still soft, sprinkle the larger candy candy
pieces as evenly as possible over the top. Use the back of a
large spoon or a spatula to lightly press the candies into the
chocolate.
Place the finished pan of Peppermint
Bark in the
refrigerator and chill the chocolates until firm, approximately 20
to 30 minutes. You could also leave the pan on the counter and let
set until firm.
When the chocolates are firm, remove from the pan by
grabbing the edge of the parchment paper and lifting out of the pan.
Break the candy into irregular pieces or use a sharp knife or dough
scraper to cut into rectangular pieces approximately 2x4 inches.
Store in
an airtight container up to 2 weeks at room temperature.
Yields 2
pounds candy.
| 
