The broken ganache

I know I started the peppermint patties a little too early in the morning – reason being I usually have a pot of coffee and smoke like a chimney so my taste buds were a little whacked.

As I began blending the fondant and the fresh mint leaves in the food processor and tasting along the way I kept adding leaf after leaf trying to get that minty flavor (more than the recipe called for). By the time I was done it did produce a lovely shade of green. Anyway after blending it was time to heat it up to 160F and once it reached that temperature the recipe suggested that one could add peppermint extract to boost the flavor – so of course I did! I added some, and some more and than just a little more! At the time I thought what a fabulous minty fresh taste.  Once they were poured and dried I couldn’t wait to taste it with some dark chocolate before dipping them. Well, it was like eating a bunch of mint leafs with a peppermint extract chaser!!! So after that experience its a great reason for me to quit smoking! And for all you smokers out there try not to have a cig before starting to cook.

So with my taste buds back on track I proceeded to make ‘bark’ with a 38% Guittard milk chocolate, toasted almonds and dried raspberries. I have read that you should use candied fruit since the sugar acts as a preservative giving it a more stable shelf life, but since I was making the bark as a snack I wasn’t that concerned.

I usually use my temping machine to temper chocolate, but this time with the help of Andy we did it by hand using the microwave. First melting the chocolate in 30 sec intervals until it reached 116F than letting it cool for 10 min and than seeding it until the temp came down to 81F (seeding is the process of adding finely chopped chocolate to the melted chocolate in order to help bring the temp down).  Than the tricky part of re-heating it up to 86F in 1-5 sec intervals in the microwave. Well it came out perfectly tempered I was amazed. I poured it onto parchment paper and sprinkled the nuts and berries – waited a few hours than as I broke it heard that perfect snap sound I was hoping for. I was thrilled. It was great until the last little crumb. I will definitely  be making this again.

38% Milk chocolate bark with almonds and dried raspberries

Homemade peppermint fondant centers