Dark Chocolate Bark with Pretzels and Candied Slivered Almond & Currants

Created by Chef Aneesh Popat (The Chocolatier) on behalf of the Almond Board of California

Difficulty

Hard

Ingredients

Serves: 10

75g slivered almonds
50g caster sugar
5g cocoa butter
40g currants
60g salted pretzels
200g 70% dark chocolate

Preparation

Candy the caster sugar to an amber gold color. To do this, warm a dry pan on medium heat. Once hot, add half the sugar and monitor it while it dissolves to clear and then begins to develop color. Give the pan a shake to help evenly melt the sugar. Once the sugar has melted add the remaining sugar and stir in with a heat proof spatula into the slightly golden colored caramel which is forming. Control the color of the caramel by adjusting the heat – we are looking for an amber color. At this point, add the slivered almonds to coat in the caramel and mix in the cocoa butter. Spread onto a heat proof mat to cool.
Once cool, break the candied almonds into pieces and mix together with the pretzels and currants, and ensure the ingredients are between 81-86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Temper the chocolate. To temper, start by breaking your chocolate into small button-sized pieces. Microwave the chocolate for 1 minute in a plastic bowl, as it does not conduct heat like glass, so you will have more control over the chocolate’s temperature. Take the bowl out and toss the chocolate. Repeat this until the chocolate softens. Now repeat the heating for 30 seconds and stir in between each heating. Repeat this process until the chocolate is nearly liquid, but still has some solid chocolate – this is incredibly important as the solid chocolate will keep your chocolate tempered. Stir the chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature so that the solid chocolate slowly melts into the liquid chocolate. Now add the tempered chocolate.
Prepare a space to set your bark by laying acetate or grease proof paper down. Pour the mixture out onto this and spread out thinly so you can just begin to see the pretzels through the chocolate. Allow to set for 20-30 minutes.
Break the bark into random shards so you can see all the delicious inclusions through the cross-section. Barks are always are best served stacked.

Nutritional Info

Per Serving

NAME	AMOUNT
Calories	496
Fat	29.1g
Saturated Fat	14.3g
Total Carbohydrates	48.4g
Sugars	31.3g
Dietary Fiber	8.6g
Protein	8.3g
Sodium	0.5g

Did you know?

In addition to almonds being a delicious ingredient in our recipes they’re also heart healthy, gut healthy, and full of vitamins and nutrients - explore Health & Nutrition to learn more. Not only that, almond farmers are dedicated to sustainability - find out how they’re Growing Good.