White Chocolate Holiday Bark

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White Chocolate Holiday Bark
This White Chocolate Holiday Bark is as delicious as it is pretty. The white chocolate has a rich creamy taste, and the combination of the sweetness from the chocolate and fruits plus the saltiness from the pistachios is wonderful. Be sure and toast the pistachios and remove the outer papery skin from the nuts before using; toasting the nuts really brings out the nutty flavor.
Recipe type: Dessert | Candy | Chocolate
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Recipe Notes
Equipment: Double Boiler Method: Stovetop Pan: Large Rimmed Jelly Roll Pan Pan Prep: Parchment Lined Yield: 2 Pounds Storage: Airtight Container, Cool Place or Refrigerate

Help: Chocolate Types, Melting Chocolate, Tempering Chocolate, Toasting Nuts and Seeds

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Ingredients
Bark:
  • 1½ cups shelled pistachio nuts, toasted and skins removed
  • ¾ cup dried cranberries
  • ½ cup golden raisins
  • 24 ounces white chocolate
Instructions
Prepare one 11x17x1 inch jelly roll pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on all sides. Tip: rub a bit of vegetable shortening or butter in the bottom of the pan corners and well as the pan sides to help the parchment paper to stay in place.
Tip: It is always preferable to temper chocolate when the chocolate is used for dipping candies. In place of step 9 below, See Tempering Chocolate for information about how to temper the chocolate to be used for dipping these candies.

If you don’t want to go through the steps of tempering the chocolate, the following directions are for melting chocolate (not tempering.)
Bark:
  1. Toast the shelled pistachio nuts, and remove the papery coating.
  2. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the toasted pistachios, dried cranberries, and golden raisins. Stir to mix. Remove and reserve about ¾ cup of this mixture to sprinkle over the top of bark. Set both the larger portion and the ¾ cup aside.
  3. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt the white chocolate. Remove from the heat just before all the chocolate is melted; stir with a clean and dry rubber spatula to finish melting the remaining chocolate. Tip: Melting white chocolate in top of a double boiler is preferable as it burns easily if melted in a saucepan directly over heat or melted in the microwave. Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a glass bowl, stainless steel bowl, or ceramic bowl on top of the hot water; the upper pan should not touch the water.
  4. As soon as the white chocolate is melted, add the larger portion of the fruit and nut mixture and stir with a rubber spatula to completely coat the fruits and nuts. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Tip: use a large offset spatula to help spread the chocolate and smooth out the top.
  5. Sprinkle the reserved ¾ cup of fruit and nuts evenly over the top and use the offset spatula to gently press the fruit and nuts into the chocolate.
  6. Place the pan in the refrigerator and chill the chocolate until firm, 20 to 30 minutes. However, if the chocolate has been tempered the candy does not need to be refrigerated as the chocolate should set quickly.
  7. When chocolate is firm, remove from the pan by grabbing the edge of the parchment paper and lifting out of the pan. Break into irregular pieces or use a sharp kitchen knife or bench scraper to cut into rectangular pieces about 2 by 4 inches.
  8. Store in an airtight container so the bark won’t dry out. Candies made with tempered chocolate can generally be stored in a cool place or at room temperature. Candies made with melted (untempered chocolate) should generally be stored in the refrigerator.