It's holiday central here at The Cook's Atelier. We are baking cookies and glittering away. The fancy German glass glitter finally arrived from La Poste and K has spent the afternoon making garland for the tree while I'm making chocolate-almond bark to share with our favorite food people in Beaune. We've got some Christmas tunes playing on Deezer and petit Luc is reminding us of all our many blessings.
We are wishing all of you a Joyeux Noël and Bonnes Fêtes!
Chocolate-almond bark with sea salt
From Bon Appétit Magazine, December 2011 issue
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups roasted almonds
1 lb. good-quality dark chocolate (62% - 70% cacao), finely chopped
sea salt (for sprinkling)
Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or foil. Combine sugar with 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until caramel is dark amber, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately add butter; whisk until melted. Add almonds; stir until well coated. Transfer to baking sheet, spreading out to separate nuts. Let cool. Break up any large clumps of nuts. Set aside 1/4 of nuts.
Stir chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until metled. Remove from heat, add nuts from baking sheet, and stir quickly to combine. Spread chocolate-nut mixture on same baking sheet, keeping nuts in a single layer. Top with the reserved nuts; sprinkle with the sea salt. Chill until chocolate is set, about 3 hours.
Break bark into pieces and store between layers of parchment or waxed paper. Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.
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