Wondering what to do with all that leftover chocolate from Christmas? Chocolate bark is the answer! Chocolate bark is the easiest thing in the world to make and requires little effort but has maximum deliciousness! This decadent dark chocolate bark is jam-packed full of dried cranberries, goji berries, chopped pistachios, pecans and finished off with a slightly salty caramel fudge. It makes the perfect sweet treat!
So, how are easy is bark to make. Technically bark doesn’t really count as baking. Melting some chocolate, pouring it into a baking tray and sprinkling your favourite nuts and fruits on top is all it takes! This bark strikes the perfect balance between fruity and nutty flavours and the added salted caramel fudge offsets the sweetness perfectly. Using dark chocolate adds to the healthy properties and makes you feel less guilty with every bite!
What substitutions are possible?
Chocolate – I like to use the darkest possible chocolate according to my own personal tastes so I would recommend this too. I usually use anything around 70% cocoa solids. The darker the better in terms of healthy-ness! If you’d like to make a vegan version, use a vegan chocolate.
Nuts, seeds and dried fruits – Create your bark according to your personal preferences, if you prefer walnuts to pecans, just swap them 1-1. If you prefer raisins to dried cranberries, do the same, just swap them 1-1!
What equipment do I need?
- Baking tray – I actually use a Swiss Roll baking tin for this bark
- Baking paper
What ingredients do I need?
- Chocolate – Dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, is perfect for this recipe. Dark chocolate is packed full of antioxidants so adds to the healthy properties of the bark. If you prefer milk or white chocolate, then swap them 1-1. Be sure to buy a good quality chocolate that you enjoy eating, it will be worth it!
- Nuts – Sprinkle the melted chocolate with your favourite nuts. I used unsalted plain shelled pistachios and pecans for this bark
- Dried fruits – These are essential for the fruit and nut pairing. Dried cranberries and goji berries were my fruits of choice here
- Salted caramel fudge – This can be bought from lots of baking shops and cut into small cubes, is the perfect finally addition to this bark
Dark Chocolate Fruit & Nut Bark
Rich and decadent chocolate bark with dried cranberries, goji berries, pecans, pistachios and salted caramel fudge.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 12-14 pieces
Difficulty: easy
Author: Sarah
Ingredients
For the bark:
□ 500g dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids
□ 30g chopped pecans
□ 30g dried goji berries
□ 30g chopped unsalted plain pistachios
□ 30g dried cranberries
□ 50g salted caramel fudge, cubed
Instructions
- Line a baking tray (roughly the size of a Swiss Roll tin), with baking paper and set aside.
- Prepare the nuts and fruits by roughly chopping in half.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot simmering water. Stir continuously so as to avoid the chocolate burning on the bottom. A silicone spatula is perfect for this.
- Once melted, pour the chocolate on to the middle of the baking tray and spread evenly to create a rough rectangular shape. It doesn’t have to be perfect for bark but be careful not to spread it too thin!
- Sprinkle the nuts, fruits and salted caramel onto the melted chocolate, making sure to cover as much as possible.
- Place the bark in the fridge to cool and set for around an hour before chopping into roughly shaped pieces or neat squares if you prefer!
Tried this recipe? Let me know what you think!
