I'm Tagged; You Get Chocolate

I don't get tagged all that often, but on Sunday Amanda D from The Little Things tagged me for this one I'd seen going around blogland:

Post the sixth photo in your sixth folder.

Here's mine:

To explain:

This is my daughter's hands as she makes the first layer of Chocolate Bark. I took pictures of her doing the entire process as part of a query for a girl's magazine article. The department I was shooting for likes recipes girls her age can do with little to no adult help. Chocolate Bark totally fits.

I'm far from a chocolate expert, but I have had some fun with it, and I've collected a lot of recipes. At some point (in the relatively near future, I hope), I plan to write a chocolate cookbook. More on that another time.

In case you're interested, here's how to make it. (Some day I may post more specifics, like how to actually melt the chocolate and so forth, but today, I'm going for simple.)

Chocolate Bark

Spread parchment over a cookie sheet.

Melt three kinds of chocolate, making sure you don't overheat them (they'll seize, turning into a grainy, icky mass). Then stir them a bit to get some air into them, cool them down slightly, and to get the chocolate tempered right so it won't bloom.

You'll be using different amount of each chocolate, so decide how you want to layer them. I prefer to use dark chocolate for the bottom layer (the most you'll use), milk chocolate for the top layer (you'll use slightly little less), and then white or some other fun color for the drizzle (you'll need the least of this one).

Spread the first layer of melted chocolate into a 1-2 mm thick rectangle.

Spread the second layer of melted chocolate on top of the first, leaving a small margin so the first shows around the edges.

After putting the final kind of chocolate into a zip-style bag (some day I should post about the nifty trick for filling the bag), seal it off and snip the corner with scissors. Use this as a decorating bag to drizzle over the entire surface. If you're using a color that contrasts well with the other chocolates, the effect will be really cool.

Sprinkle whatever crunchy item you want over the top. (This is what makes the end product "bark.") Possible items: chopped nuts, peppermint crush, toffee bits, sprinkles, etc.

Put the cookie sheet into the fridge and leave until the chocolate is set, half an hour or so, depending on the thickness. Remove from the fridge and break by hand into bite-sized pieces.

Just for fun, here's the final shot we took of the project:

YUM!

For the tagging (I don't remember where all I saw this tag, so forgive me if I'm forgetting to tag someone or forgetting that you've already been tagged!):

Tristi, Luisa, Lisa, Lara, and Josi.