Peppermint Bark is simple in idea and presentation, but is rather difficult to make properly. Essentially, it is a layer of white chocolate, one of dark/semi-sweet chocolate, covered with crushed starlight mints. I don’t have exact measurements, because I just improvised, but here’s roughly what you should do.
Ingredients:
White chocolate chips
Dark or semi-sweet chips
Butter/shortening
Cream
Starlight mints
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Grease jelly-roll pan (cookie sheet with edges). Unwrap mints, and crush into chunks. If you have a meat tenderizer or hammer, place the mints in a large Ziploc bag, and hit each one individually. Alternatively, a rolling pin could be used over the bag. If you’re really desperate, put the mints in that bag, which can be slung into a counter repeatedly. That is what I had to do, because I couldn’t find any useful implements in the kitchen. Be careful when crushing the mints, because you don’t want a fine powder; chunks about 1/8” are actually preferable.
Heat cream in a double-boiler with a small amount of butter, warming until butter melts. Add in white chocolate chips, stirring until melted. The consistency should be thin enough to spread thinly, but thick enough that it’ll harden. Pour onto cookie sheet, and with offset spatula, smooth out the chocolate to the edges. Ideally, the layer should be about 1/8th of an inch thick. Let chocolate harden.
Repeat chocolate-melting process, but with dark chocolate chips instead of white. Once spread onto pan, sprinkle mint chunks, and press in lightly.
Refrigerate until serving time. If the bark is thin enough, it can simply be broken, but if the chocolate didn’t harden properly or is too thick, simply cut into bars and serve.
Apologies, but since I was making these for an all-campus party, and drunk people are hungry vultures, I unfortunately do not have pictures of these. Oh well, that simply makes an excuse to make them again, right?
~ The Baker's Apprentice/Chef A
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