Whew this stuff is good. It should stay a secret, it really should. It is one of those recipes I had to ‘get over’ sharing, because it is so simple and yet comes across as such a gourmet gift (the secret is out!). And it isn’t just the fancy ribbon and cellophane I wrap it in for annual Christmas gifts: it is addictive good. My kids were begging me to make it, so we did: today. And we are snowed in so we had nobody to gift it to except ourselves—yum, pass the hot chocolate (note to self: bake goodies often when snowed in).

My neighbors have enough class not to beg for this, but after we deliver these specially wrapped packages, they fall all over themselves thanking me and telling me they couldn’t wait to receive their peppermint bark (you know who you are). And now see, due to this lovely tomato talking blog, you have the recipe for yourselves.

I see little boxes of peppermint bark appearing at Trader Joe’s; I get emails from Williams Sonoma telling me it is time to buy theirs and every time I scoot past a shelf at Starbucks, there it is, staring me in the face: more peppermint bark. But guess what? I don’t buy it, I make it and now you can too:

Peppermint Bark
2 Lbs. white chocolate, cut into slivers (I buy bulk from Trader Joe’s)
12 crushed candy canes
1-2 tsp peppermint oil/flavoring

Unless I am oddly lucky every single time I make this, you don’t need a double boiler. I just use the microwave. Smooth talk works. Using glass or Melamine Bowls (I love mine), place chocolate in microwave and heat 30 seconds. Remove and stir vigorously for 10 seconds (I use a Silicone Spatula). Repeat 2 more times. Stir like mad on the last round to remove all lumps, and no lolly-gagging. You can always heat it up more but you can never remove burnt chocolate. Really, it will be fine. My 4th and 5th graders make it (note photo of my son cutting the chocolate). When it is all melted, stir in candy canes and peppermint. Place on parchment on cookie sheet, spread out to desired thickness (I aim for 1/3 inch) then tap the counter with the tray to smooth top. Place in fridge to harden. I know, too easy. (Oh, and I often halve the recipe for those short-term self-indulgent cravings aka snow days).

By the way, if you don’t have one, buy an Ice Cream Maker. I have never gotten past page three in the little pamphlet that comes with it, having gotten addicted to the simplest vanilla ice cream (page 1) that takes me 2 minutes instead of 2 hours to make. It is cheating, really, and the peppermint ice cream (page 3) is a stand-alone favorite in our house (especially when grandpa comes over):

Peppermint Ice Cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint oil/flavoring
4 or 5 crushed candy canes

Start ice cream maker, quick throw in milk plus sugar. After 1-2 minutes pour in cream and flavorings. Hold breath. Release breath: you have to wait 25-30 minutes. Crush 4 candy canes, insert into ice cream a few minutes before it is finished. Store in freezer.

And then there was cake. I just ran across a Peppermint Chocolate Cake via Megnut and though I haven’t made it, I can very nearly taste it and will be making it to top off Christmas dinner this year. All for the love of peppermint.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 1st, 2006 at 12:34 am and is filed under christmas, kitchen gifts, talk of food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.