December 25, 2011

peppermint bark

Merry Christmas lovelies!

I wanted to do something fun with my siblings for Christmas Eve so I decided to venture on my first candy/chocolate creation: peppermint bark. I love peppermint chocolate so I couldn't be more excited when I found out this was one of the simplest candy recipes ever.

Peppermint Bark
a couple things:
12oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
12oz white chocolate chips
10 candy canes

First line a baking pan with a non-stick sheet or parchment. This is where your candy will take hold. In a microwavable bowl, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in microwave at 20 second intervals. After each interval, stir with a spoon or rubber spatula (or with a rice scoop like me >_<). You MUST heat only in these short time intervals because chocolate is a very delicate ingredient that can burn quickly, so it must be heated in this controlled procedure. It took about total of 60 seconds to  melt all of the chocolate smoothly. Pour the semi-sweet chocolate into the pan and smooth it out flat with your spatula. Now let this layer cool off in the refrigerator for a good 30-40 minutes. At this time, put your candy canes inside of a ziploc bag and hammer the crap out of them to lil pieces. My brother had a lot of fun with that :)

Next repeat the melting process with your white chocolate chips and pour it on top of the cooled semi-sweet chocolate layer. Now sprinkle the peppermint pieces on top of the white chocolate and gently push them in. You can also mix the peppermint with the melted white chocolate first, but I found this made the white chocolate harden up, so it wasn't that easy to spread when pouring out onto the pan. Now cool for another 40-60 minutes. Enjoy!!

TIPS and NOTES
1. This was the first time I dealt with melting chocolate so I first read that using a double boiler is the way to go to make it perfect. I tried this and wow this process was very long and tedious. Plus I didn't read before hand that when melting chocolate comes in contact with any one drop of water, it seizes up instantly and thus makes it unmeltable. So in my double boiler, I had put the boiling water too high and there was so much condensation that it dripped into my bowl of chocolate. Wasted. But apparently this method is what true professionals use to make perfectly smooth chocolate.
2. I said screw it and used a microwave. Like I said before, chocolate burns easily, so you really want to control the heating process and I found the 20-sec interval process flawless. I didn't change the power settings at all. Remember to always use a completely dry spoon or spatula when mixing your chocolate. Plus this method was SUPER quick and easy, just the way I like it to be :) The chocolate turned out to be smooth too, so I really did not see a noticeable difference or lack in quality.



17 comments:

  1. Jessa December 25, 2011 at 2:46 PM

    Yum! We made this last year and everyone could not get enough! Always a hit... thanks for sharing the recipe and Happy Holidays!

    Love & Lollies... Jessa

    Confessions of the Cupcake Countessa

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownDecember 25, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    I made peppermint bark very recently, it was yummy. You can see a post about it on my blog if you want to know how mine turned out.

    Hope you'll stop by sometime to say hi anyway. If you like it please follow me :)

    Merry Christmas, I hope you've had a lovely day!


    Amelia @ UGLY DUCKLING x

    Last day to enter the China Glaze GIVEAWAY! Go toI WAS AN UGLY DUCKLING BLOG!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 26, 2011 at 4:40 PM

    This looks great! I want to try it out :) thanks for commenting on our blog, we're now following you on bloglovin!

    Xx minty
    Http://mintyandpeaches.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. CeeceeDecember 26, 2011 at 11:49 PM

    This looks delicious Steph, seems like you really love cooking, lucky Eric! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. rachel bambiDecember 27, 2011 at 1:17 AM

    looks amazing! love your blog!

    STYLE SOCIETE

    ReplyDelete
  6. Marilia and Cristina MazDecember 27, 2011 at 3:42 AM

    mmmm it looks delicious! Thanks so much for your nice msg in IFB and your comment... they totaly made my day. You are so sweet and u have and amazing blog!
    I m following
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Selvaggia CapizziDecember 27, 2011 at 6:06 AM

    Mmmh they look good, I have never tried these you know?
    Come to visit my blog and if you want let's follow each other on bloglovin and GFC!
    xx
    http://dontcallmefashionblogger.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fumiko Kawa | FMK.December 27, 2011 at 7:25 AM

    this is really delicious and looks great my dear^^

    I received your message for me at IFB, I am really glad to hear from you..
    and thanks for all of the sweet words towards my blog~
    I will keep up my work..

    and do message me when you are free, would love to hear from you^^

    btw, I like ramen too :)


    cheers,
    fumiko.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnalisaDecember 27, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    Stephanie, thank you so much for your comment! I love your blog name! My biggest piece of advice is to get yourself out there, when I first started blogging I commented on many, many blogs and regularly commented people back! I think it's good to be connected with your readers, it keeps them coming back. I also didn't start posting my blog link on my Lookbook until months later, and once I did, I noticed traffic increased immensely. So make use out of any other social media site you have like Twitter, etc.! And of course, have your own unique voice, because so many blogs out there are such identical copies of each other that sometimes they start getting really repetitive.

    By the way, I have to keep this recipe in mind! One of my friends bought me peppermint bark for Christmas and it was deliciousss. I totally didn't think about making my own :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. BlaiseRubyDecember 27, 2011 at 2:30 PM

    looks sooo yuuuuuuuuumy :) Love the pictures on the blog too :)

    http://blaiseruby.blogspot.com/

    x

    ReplyDelete
  11. AlyssaDecember 27, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    interesting recipe... I'm curious, I like to try it too :) Anyway, I'm your latest follower from IFB also
    xo
    Style is Eternal

    ReplyDelete
  12. Stephanie HjelmesethDecember 28, 2011 at 12:12 PM

    Thanks Blaise and Maria :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Selvaggia CapizziDecember 28, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    I am following you back on both, Can't wait to see a new post of yours!

    ReplyDelete
  14. joyDecember 29, 2011 at 7:18 PM

    peppermint bark is so yummy! This post is great, I love it :) now following.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mallory In New YorkDecember 29, 2011 at 8:08 PM

    Love this! I just saw a similar recipe this afternoon, but it was only using chocloate chips. You combined the recipe with white chocolate -- how interesting! I'll definitely have to test this out! I'm now following, by the way. :)

    http://malloryinnewyork.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnaJanuary 2, 2012 at 7:43 PM

    I love peppermint bark! I want to go make some now!

    ReplyDelete
  17. sonalyNovember 14, 2014 at 12:02 AM

    PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE
    This is a before or after dinner mint that packs a lot more than a refreshing feeling after you consume it. This is pure delight for your taste buds.

    ReplyDelete