Our supermarket is full with different kinds of chocolate bars. However there are not many dark chocolate bars here that are loaded with nuts. It is mostly milk chocolate, or dark chocolate without any nuts. My all time favourite chocolate bar is one that is filled with nuts and has very dark chocolate. It is dense and rich in flavour and when I am craving chocolate this is what makes me the happiest. The good thing about chocolate is that, with a little bit of practise, you can make it yourself. Many people are afraid of making their own chocolate bars, because you need to temper chocolate, but we think that the best way to get over that fear is to just do it and try. And it will still taste good, even if your batch wasn’t tempered perfectly.
The nice thing about making your own chocolate bark is that you don’t need a specific recipe to create it. We will give an option of course, but you can experiment with all the toppings you like. Just add any nuts, seeds and fruit (fresh or dried) that you have lying around. The nice thing is that you can also add as many toppings as you like! I would suggest making the bark with good tasting, high quality dark chocolate. I prefer dark chocolate over the others, but dark chocolate also is the easiest to temper. There are two ways to temper chocolate. The first one is the traditional au bain-marie with a sugar thermometer, and the other is a more simple one using a microwave! If you have a thermometer lying around, use it. If not, read the recipe below for the simple microwave version.
Fruit and chocolate bark
200 gram dark chocolate
Toppings
1 banana (peeled and sliced)
2 tbsp berries (thawed or fresh)
1 tsp Chia seeds
1 tbsp shredded coconut
Handful of chopped nuts
Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave on a high setting and heat up for 30 seconds. Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir. If the chocolate is not melted, place the bowl back into the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again. The chocolate should be completely melted after microwaving it twice and stirring it , if there are still a few chunks try stirring it even more so they melt or place the bowl back into the microwave for another 20 seconds and stir again. You can repeat this step again if you think the chocolate still hasn’t melted enough.
When the chocolate is ready place the fruit in a chocolate bark shape lined with baking paper (or use a silicon shape). Add the chocolate to cover and shake it around a little to get rid of air bubbles. Top with nuts and seeds and place in the fridge for 1 hour to completely harden.
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