Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

This December I’ll be sharing four festive recipes, starting with Festive Chocolate Bark. This pretty chocolate bark would be ideal to give as an edible gift, or use it for Christmas party favours. It’s also great to serve as a dessert. I made a milk chocolate bark topped with apple juice soaked raisins, roasted pistachios & white chocolate shavings, and a white chocolate bark, topped with cranberries, fudge pieces & biscoff crumb. But you can totally customise the toppings to suit you, or the person/people you’re making the bark for

White Chocolate, Fudge, Cranberry, Biscoff Bark

Yield; 330g Chocolate Bark Prep time; 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes to set in the fridge

You’ll need;

1. 200g dairy free white chocolate, I found the best chocolate to use for this is Moser Roth Vegan Blonde Cocoa Bar from Aldi
2. 50g of dried cranberries
3. 65g dairy free fudge, chopped into small pieces
4. 15g crushed biscoff biscuits

Method;

• Start by preparing all the toppings and adding them into bowls. Once the chocolate is melted you’ll want them to hand, so it’s better to prepare them first. Then line a baking tray with some baking paper
• Break the chocolate into small pieces and add it into a microwave safe dish. Heat the chocolate at half power for a couple of minutes, taking the chocolate out and stirring it every 20 seconds or so. Alternatively heat on full power in ten second bursts, removing the bowl and stirring the chocolate every 10 seconds. Be sure to give the chocolate a really good stir each time, and be careful not to overheat or scorch the chocolate
• Once the chocolate has nearly fully melted, remove it from the microwave and give it a good stir. The heat from the bowl and the melted chocolate will be enough to melt the rest
• When the chocolate has fully melted, spoon it onto the baking paper and smooth it out into an even layer. Top the chocolate with the cranberries, fudge and biscuits
• Leave the chocolate to set in the fridge for 30 minutes, then you can break it onto shards

Milk Chocolate, Raisin, Roasted Pistachio Bark

Yield; 330g Chocolate Bark Prep time; 20 minutes, plus 1 hour to soak the raisins and 30 minutes for the chocolate to set

You’ll need;

1. 200g dairy free milk chocolate, I used Moser Roth Vegan Classic Cocoa Bar from Aldi
2. 50g raisins
3. 25 ml apple juice
4. 50g roasted and salted roughly chopped pistachios, this is the shelled weight
5. 5g dairy free white chocolate, finely grated

Method;

• Start by adding the raisins into a shallow dish and pouring the apple juice over them. Leave them for at least an hour to soak, this makes the raisins really plump and juicy
• Once the raisins have soaked, discard any apple juice that they didn’t absorb. Prepare the rest of the toppings and line a baking tray with baking paper
• Break the milk chocolate into small pieces and add it into a microwave safe dish. Heat the chocolate at half power for a couple of minutes, taking the chocolate out and stirring it every 20 seconds or so. Alternatively heat on full power in ten second bursts, removing the bowl and stirring the chocolate every 10 seconds. Be sure to give the chocolate a really good stir each time, and be careful not to overheat or scorch the chocolate
• Once the chocolate has nearly fully melted, remove it from the microwave and give it a good stir. The heat from the bowl and the melted chocolate will be enough to melt the rest
• When the chocolate has fully melted, spoon it onto the baking paper and smooth it out into an even layer. Top the chocolate with the raisins, pistachios and white chocolate
• Leave the chocolate to set in the fridge for 30 minutes, then you can break it into shards

Once the chocolate has set, remove it from the fridge and snap it into small pieces. Store the chocolate bark in an airtight container in a cool place. To give the bark as a gift or party favour, pop the bark into cellophane bags and tie them closed with a ribbon