Well it’s a new year and with a new year comes… a new copyright logo on the bottom of my pictures (which you may have seen on my champagne cupcakes)! In case you aren’t aware, I went about 3 years having this blog without needing to (or feeling the need to) copyright my photos, and then some dipshit named Sharon Louann Swann Stallings went and stole a bunch of them and used them as advertisements for her “up & coming baking business” on Craigslist & Facebook. Yeah, like I said, dipshit. Anyway, after that, in September or October of 2010, I decided I better tag ’em with my blog name so that when they’re stolen, people will know, unless these dipshits have the ability to crop in Photoshop, which I highly doubt. So for the next 12 months you’ll see this new copyright on the bottom of the photos. It’s a shame I need to do this at all, I hope someday I can remove this step in my photo editing for good. But for now, it stays, just updated for 2011 and with all this other newness, comes a new recipe!
Most people think of peppermint bark as a Christmas-y treat, however, I think it’s also a great way to use up all your leftover candy canes after Christmas. Although, to me & my family, Christmas lasts until tomorrow which is Little Christmas, so it’s still appropriate to make it with those. You’ll never catch us taking our tree down before tomorrow! If anything, it’s up another week or two. The outside decorations, that’s a bit different. They had to come down before we’re hit with another blizzard.
Peppermint bark is a chocolate confection. Generally it consists of peppermint candy pieces in white chocolate on top of dark chocolate, but peppermint bark can refer to any chocolate with peppermint candy pieces in it.
It is especially popular around the Christmas season. Companies known for selling it seasonally include Williams-Sonoma, Ghirardelli, and Dove. Though they do not label it as peppermint bark, Hershey’s also sells peppermint Hershey’s kisses.
Peppermint + chocolate = wonderful. Funny story; Jay never liked the mint/chocolate combo until eating these. He’ll probably still deny liking it, though. I saw him smile when he ate a piece on Christmas- he can’t fool me.
Needless to say, I did indeed make mine for Christmas, and I put it in Martha Stewart treat bags and used them as place settings for the table on Christmas Day. This way, everyone could take theirs home with them and enjoy it. Although like I said, I think it’s a sweet way to use up your candy canes when the holiday is over, and I think it’d be equally sweet for Valentine’s Day, perhaps using white chocolate colored pink? Or even better: use white chocolate & pink Candy Melts with dried cherries. Or try making it with all white chocolate and crushed starlight mints, then drizzling melted pink candy melts over the top? Or for St. Patrick’s Day; white chocolate with crushed spearmint starlight mints or crushed green candies. You can do it in any way you like, for any holiday, even with cherry or blueberry or fruit-flavored candy canes.
…
My recipe is just a basic one, very simple. There are tons of them out there, and there are also commercially made pre-packaged ones that usually cost a pretty penny. Williams-Sonoma makes a fantastic one, but buying it really takes the fun out of it to me. This is a project kids would love- it takes no time at all, lots of smashing (the candy canes), very little cooking, no baking, and the end result is delicious.
PEPPERMINT BARK
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup crushed candy canes
Directions:
- Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles.
- Melt the semi sweet chocolate and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Immediately pour the melted chocolate into the prepared pan and tilt the pan so the chocolate makes an even layer. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has set.
- Then, melt the white chocolate and remaining 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Immediately pour the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate and tilt the pan so the chocolate is in an even layer. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes evenly over the white chocolate. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has set.
- Remove the Peppermint Bark from the pan by lifting the edges of the aluminum foil. Peel back the foil and break the bark into small irregular pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Makes about 25 pieces, depending on how large you break it up and whether or not you double the recipe.
NOMS! CRUNCHY CHOCOLATEY PEPPERMINT NOMS ALL IN YOUR FACE!
…
If you like more peppermint flavor in your bark, stir some peppermint oil (not extract), maybe ¼ – ½ teaspoon, into the white chocolate before pouring it on top of the other chocolate. You can also put more melted chocolate over the top, like a drizzle. I split my chocolate up unevenly, so the semi-sweet chocolate layer is thicker than the white, and used some mini chips in the semi-sweet layer that I didn’t allow to melt completely, so that layer is a little chunky. See? So many possibilities! You could even use white chocolate chips in regular chocolate… whatever your imagination can come up with, it’ll work.
I also want to say that these candy canes were the best ever. I got them at Target and the flavor wasn’t too peppermint-y, it was a perfect balance of sweet and mint. Which made them perfect for peppermint bark. It’s a shame I now have to wait almost a whole year to buy them again. But on the plus side… Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it.
I think I’ll keep the snow up on the blog for a few more weeks, or maybe all through winter.
I'm Marilla. A 30-something artist, hobby baker, home canning enthusiast, gardener, DIY-er, wife, mommy of a baby boy and dog mom (to another baby boy) from New York. 
Yay!!! I was hoping that you had a recipe for peppermint bark, and I found it! I make it every year to give away with cookies. And even though this is pretty much the same recipe that I use, I have yet to try it with candy canes. I know it probably won’t make a huge difference, but I think it may make a slight difference. I always use peppermint candies, but I think this might work better, especially visually.
I love peppermint bark! It’s probably my favorite Christmas “thing.” I could eat it all day… I’m a sicko.
I like to use the candy canes, because otherwise they just sit here until they’re thrown out. So I use them in hot cocoa, vodka (that’s coming soon :X) and in peppermint bark!
Peppermint vodka!!? Yes!!!!
Hell yes!
It’s going to be finish of mine day, but before ending I am reading
this wonderful piece of writing to improve my experience.
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and
was curious what all is needed to get setup? I’m assuming
having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% positive. Any recommendations or advice would
be greatly appreciated. Cheers
Perfect work you have done, this site is really cool with good information.
What’s Going down i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It positively useful and
it has helped me out loads. I hope to contribute & aid different customers like its
aided me. Good job.
Thanks , I’ve recently been searching for info about this topic for ages and yours is the
greatest I’ve found out so far. However, what concerning the conclusion?
Are you sure concerning the supply?
You’re so cool! I don’t believe I’ve truly read through a single thing like that before.
So great to find another person with some unique thoughts on this issue.
Really.. thank you for starting this up. This site
is something that is required on the web, someone with a little originality!
Hello there, I found your web site by way of Google at the same
time as searching for a related matter, your site came up,
it looks good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and located that it’s really informative.
I am going to watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful for those who continue this in future.
Numerous other folks shall be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
It’s very simple to find out any topic on net as compared to
textbooks, as I found this post at this web page.
Good replies in return of this query with firm arguments and explaining all concerning that.
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
If you’re still on the fence: grab your favorite earphones, head down to a Best Buy and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and see which one sounds better to you, and which interface makes you smile more. Then you’ll know which is right for you.
I’m not sure exactly why but this blog is loading extremely slow for me.
Is anyone else having this issue or is it a
problem on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue with your website in web explorer, could check this?
IE nonetheless is the marketplace leader and a big portion of other folks will miss your great
writing due to this problem.
Some genuinely interesting information, well written and generally user genial.
Everything is very open with a clear explanation of the issues.
It was truly informative. Your site is very useful.
Many thanks for sharing!
Paragraph writing is also a fun, if you know after that you can write otherwise it is complicated to write.
Your way of describing the whole thing in this post is in fact nice, all can simply know it, Thanks a lot.