Snap-Tempered Dark Chocolate Bark with Pistachios, Sour Cherries & Sea Salt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Real confectionery-shop bark: dark chocolate tempered by the seed method so it sets with a glossy face and a clean, cold snap instead of the dull, bendy sheet you get from melted chips. A single quarter-sheet pan gives you a thin slab studded with toasted pistachios, tart dried cherries, candied orange and flaky salt — the sweet-salty-sour balance that makes people eat four pieces standing at the counter. Tempering is nothing but thermometer discipline, and the recipe walks you through every degree.

Ingredients

• 16 oz good dark chocolate, 60–70% cacao, finely chopped (bar or couverture wafers, not chocolate chips)
• 2 oz white chocolate, finely chopped, for marbling (optional)

• 1/2 cup raw shelled pistachios
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup dried sour cherries, halved
• 3 tbsp candied orange peel, finely diced
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt
• 1/4 tsp finely grated orange zest

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Spread the pistachios and sliced almonds on a small rimmed baking sheet and toast 6–8 minutes, shaking once, until the almonds are pale gold and the nuts smell rich. Cool completely — warm nuts will knock your chocolate out of temper. Coarsely chop half the pistachios and leave the rest whole.
2. Line a quarter-sheet pan (9x13 inches) or a rimmed baking sheet with parchment, pressing it flat and creasing it into the corners. Set the nuts, cherries, candied orange, zest and salt in small piles right next to the pan: once the chocolate is tempered you have about three minutes to work.
3. Divide the dark chocolate: put 12 oz in a completely dry medium heatproof bowl and reserve the remaining 4 oz (this is your seed). Any drop of water will seize the chocolate, so dry the bowl and spatula twice.
4. Set the bowl over a saucepan holding 1 inch of barely simmering water — the bowl must not touch the water — and stir constantly with a silicone spatula until the chocolate is melted and reads 115°F on an instant-read or candy thermometer. Do not let it climb past 120°F.
5. Lift the bowl off the pan and wipe the bottom dry. Add the reserved 4 oz of chopped chocolate and stir steadily and patiently. As the seed melts it drops the temperature and plants the crystals that make bark snap. Keep stirring until the chocolate reads 88–90°F and looks slightly thicker and satiny, about 4–6 minutes. If a few stubborn chunks remain at 89°F, fish them out rather than reheating.
6. Test the temper: smear a teaspoon on a cold spoon or a scrap of parchment. Held at cool room temperature it should set matte-to-glossy and firm in 3–4 minutes. If it stays tacky or streaky, return the bowl to the steam for 5-second bursts up to 91°F, stir hard for a minute, and test again.
7. Immediately scrape the tempered chocolate onto the parchment and spread with an offset spatula to an even 1/8- to 3/16-inch slab, about 8x11 inches. Lift the pan an inch off the counter and drop it twice to level the surface and release bubbles.
8. If marbling, melt the white chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave at 50% power in 15-second bursts, stirring between, until just fluid and no warmer than 88°F. Drizzle thin lines over the dark chocolate and drag a toothpick or skewer through them in loose S-curves.
9. Working fast while the surface is still wet-looking, scatter the pistachios, almonds, sour cherries and candied orange over the slab, pressing each addition down lightly with your fingertips so it anchors. Finish with the orange zest and the flaky salt, sprinkled from high up for even coverage.
10. Let the bark set undisturbed at cool room temperature, 65–70°F, for 45–60 minutes, until the underside is fully matte and the slab releases from the parchment with no tacky spots. Do not refrigerate — the fridge causes condensation and dull gray streaks.
11. Slide the set slab onto a cutting board and break it into irregular 2- to 3-inch shards with your hands, or cut with a long chef's knife pressed straight down. Store in an airtight tin between sheets of parchment at cool room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Frozen Chocolate–Caramel Peanut Nougat Bars

Blueberry Peach Buckle with Almond Streusel

Creole Cream Cheese Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem