Dairy free Chocolate Bark

Dried cranberry & macadamia nut dark chocolate bark

Every time I find a product that's dairy free, I tend to impulsively buy it.  Especially if it's something I can bake with.  It's a habit I'm trying to break, usually my mum's voice pop's into my head saying " Do you really need that, and if so what are you going to do with it!!!.   Which always makes me think twice, doesn't always work though.  As I seem to have accumulated several bars of chocolate over the past few months. 

 After giving up chocolate years ago because it was an IBS trigger Iv kind of lost my taste for it.  I couldn't eat a whole chocolate bar now, I do however occasionally crave a nibble.  I think I like the idea of being able to eat chocolate more than actually eating it.    So in my reducing food waste quest, I decided to do something with it. 

I'd never heard of Chocolate bark before, until I watched the Barefoot Contessa.  What can I say, I'm addicted to watch cooking shows, the same way some people are addicted to watching reality TV.  The Barefoot Contessa is one of my favourite. Iv never made one of her recipes before mostly due to the amount of dairy she uses.   However her Chocolate bark recipe finally gave me the chance.

Chocolate bark has got to be one of the easiest recipes Iv made.  All you need to do is melt chocolate and top with dried fruit and nuts.  Okay there is slightly more to it than that, but it's all in the prep.


How to make Chocolate Bark

1. Melt your dairy free chocolate in a bain marie. Posh name for a glass bowl sitting over a pan of water on the stove.  You need to make sure the water doesn't touch the base of the bowl before you place the chocolate in.

2.  Melt over a low heat, slow is best with chocolate.  Once there are only a few pieces left to melt, take the pan off the stove.  The remaining heat in the hot water should be enough to finish melting the chocolate.

3.  Finally take bowl off the pan of water and leave for 5 Min's.  Look out a grease proof tray or line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.  Look out and prepare your chop fruit and nuts.  Chop down any that are too big, to make them bite size.

4.  Pour melted chocolate over your greaseproof paper or tray, and spread out.  Doesn't need to be totally even.  Then sprinkle your fruit and nuts over the top.  If you wanted to could leave a small amount of the melted chocolate to splatter artistically over the top.  Or your could just release your inner child and just splatter it anyway you want. 

5. Leave to set at room tempreture for 2 hours. Then either cut with a knife or break into pieces. 

It's one of those really simple things, that looks as though it takes a lot of skill and time to make.  It even looks better when it's broke into random pieces rather, than tidly cut. 

Iv stored mine in an airtight container, and kept it in a cool place.  Because it's dark chocolate all I need is a small piece to curb my cravings.  The sweetness of the dried cranberry's works great with the dark chocolate.

If you don't have a lot of money and want to make a great present for a friend, this is the recipe for you.  You can customised the chocolate and toppings for the person your making it for.  A little time and a lot of love can turn something mundane into a spectacular pressie xx