Best Food Blogs | Wynn Las Vegas | Great Holiday Recipe

Courtesy The Gourmet Review

Want a quick gift idea that’s easy to prepare and just happens to be a perfect holiday project with kids? Head Pastry Chef Pierre  Gatel from  Wynn Resort Las Vegas shares his secret Peppermint Bark Recipe with The Gourmet Review. It’s great for New Year’s celebrations or any time you can’t live another minute without a chocolate fix!

 INGREDIENTS

Crushed peppermints

Melted chocolate

Sheet pan lined with wax paper

INSTRUCTIONS

Pour the chocolate onto the wax paper and spread the chocolate or lightly tap the sheet pan to mkae it an even layer. Sprinkle with crushed peppermits and put in the refrigerator  just until set.

Remove from the refrigerator and break apart.

Put in glassine bags or place on a holiday platter.

 

NOTES

Pastry Chef Pierre recommends a good quality chocolate like Vahlrona, Callebaut or Guittard.   He finds that semi-sweet is a more crowd-pleasing type of chocolate to use for this bark, particularly because children are so fond of it.   One pound of chocolate will yield a nice sheet of bark approximately 8 x 10 inches in dimension.   If you are going to make the bark and enjoy it within a relatively short period of time, there is an easy-temper method that he suggests might be helpful.

Using a pencil, draw an 8 by 10-inch rectangle on a piece of parchment paper placed on a sheet pan.  Turn the parchment paper over so that the pencil mark doesn’t get into the chocolate.

Place 3/4 of the chocolate in a glass bowl and place it in the microwave on high power for 30 seconds.

Stir with a rubber spatula.  Return back to the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again.

Continue to heat and stir every 30 seconds until the chocolate is just melted.

Immediately, add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it’s completely smooth and glossy. (If you need to heat it a little more, place it in the microwave for another 15 seconds at a time.)

Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it lightly into the drawn rectangle.   Proceed with the crushed peppermints.

These make great holiday presents!

 

– The Gourmet Review

 

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