Peppermint bark

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and people are starting to panic but fear not! There’s still time to whip up some lovely goodies and this Peppermint Bark is a doddle.

You’ll need:
400g white chocolate
400g milk chocolate
4 peppermint candy canes

Line a large baking tray (in fact even a lasagna dish will do)

Set up an easy double boiler by floating a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Break your milk chocolate in to chunks and pop it in to start melting. Stir every so often until silky smooth.

Pour in to your baking tray and give it a little shuffle so that it spreads evenly. Do the same for the white chocolate.

Once you have both layers of chocolate in the tray, take a fork and swirl away to create a slightly marbled effect. Rather “zen garden” isn’t it?

Call in the kids. Pop the candy canes in a zip lock bag and arm them with a rolling pin. They’ll have a great time smashing up the candy and you can reward your assistants by letting them dive in to any chocolate that’s left in the bowls.

Sprinkle your candy all over the top and leave to set.  Then it is time to choose your team: perfectly cut shapes or crazy shards? I prefer the crazy shards look and snap mine roughly by hand. If you want to try something fancier, a firm press on a cookie cutter should do the trick.

These will keep in an air tight box in the fridge for 2 weeks.  I’ll wrap mine up in some polythene and tie with a pretty bow. They’ll make the perfect stocking fillers for my family.