WELL, this was a fun little project. There is so much mystery and science around chocolate and tempering and bean to bar etc etc that sometimes I know even I am put off tackling it.
After playing around a few times with tempered vs untempered chocolate, I know that for sure, tempered is better. But it is tricky to get your head around without a full on class and plenty of practice. SO I decided to make it as simple as possible and to be honest, I was pretty happy with the results. If you notice the big pink lumps in the bark, they are not awful, but they were not couverture chocolate and so did not melt at the same temperature. I left them in, they taste great, but the bark would have been prettier without them.
I hope someone buys you flowers this Valentine's Day, and it looks like you have the chocolate bit sorted for yourself or for the ones you love.
Have fun and post me pics on Instagram and/or Facebook.
Here are some of our other Valentine's Day ideas from years past:
Chocolate Sweetheart Cake with Roses
Chocolate Mascarpone Ganache Tart with Strawberries
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Need
Do
- 1
Arrange the chocolate in the way you wish on a lined baking tray, (take a look at the video for ideas).
- 2
Place into a cold oven set to 45°C (some ovens may not go that low, you cannot put the chocolate above 48°C).
- 3
Check at 20 minutes, this will depend entirely on the chocolate you are using. Once the chocolate is liquid and glossy, remove from the oven, swirl to combine the colours however you wish and decorate with sprinkles, freeze dried fruit, edible flowers or anything else that takes your fancy.
- 4
Allow to come to room temperature and then place into the fridge until completely set. Remove from the tray and cut with a hot knife into whatever sized pieces you wish. Alternatively, break into shards. Package and gift! We used cookie boxes for ours...everyone wants one!