Selection Box Bark

It's December 25th and you all know what that means... it's bloomin' Christmas!! I hope you're all having an absolutely wonderful day, whether you celebrate the holiday or not, and enjoying spending time with your loved ones. As I've got a schedule for my posts, I knew that there was going to be one going up on Christmas Day, and I was a little bit stuck. While I'm not expecting anyone to read this on the day, I needed something for people to come back to, so I didn't want it too Christmas-specific. Then it hit me...

Something I tend to get each Christmas but never get round to finishing is a selection box. After eating a chocolate every day during the month and then eating my entire body weight on Christmas Day, the sight of chocolate makes me feel a little queasy for a while afterwards. So I've come up with a way to make getting rid of that leftover chocolate a bit easier and more fun, and that's by turning it into bark.

Now, you might be thinking 'isn't that defeating the point, Olivia?' and I suppose you're right, but by melting down your bars of chocolate and turning them into something that can be made into a unique, smashed up masterpiece, then other people may be more inclined to help you eat it up. If someone brought in a box of homemade chocolate bark to the office, you absolutely couldn't say no to giving it a try! It's also something fun for kids to do on a wet, miserable day, which I can guarantee we're probably going to have soon.

It's ridiculously easy to make bark and even if it gets a bit messy, it'll look fab once it's smashed up. There's no wrong or right, just bosh a load of whatever you want on top, stick it in the fridge, smash it up and enjoy!

You will need:

200g milk chocolate (can include solid bars of chocolate from selection box)

100g white chocolate (optional)

Any decorations (I used the Galaxy selection box, plus some Malteser reindeers)

Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. If you'd like, you could use two smaller ones instead. Just make sure that they are quite flat so that you can get a good spread of chocolate!

Break your milk chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt it over a pan of barely simmering water. You can also melt your chocolate in the microwave, just be sure to check on it regularly to avoid burning it. Do the same with your white chocolate, if using, in a separate bowl.

Pour your melted milk chocolate on to your greaseproof paper and spread it out with the back of a spoon until it is at your desired thickness. Add blobs of white chocolate on top, then swirl a knife through to create a marble effect.

Whilst the chocolate is still liquidy, add on your decorations! You can be as crazy or as minimalistic as you like with this, but I stuck Minstrels, broken Galaxy caramel pieces, nomal Galaxy pieces and Malteser bunnies on to mine. You could throw on some edible glitter or festive sprinkles!

Once you've decorated your chocolate slab, pop it in the fridge for about an hour to set. Remove it from the fridge when the whole thing is solid, then smash it or cut it up with a knife.

It's a very naughty treat, but like I said, it's a great way of using up selection box chocolates. No two pieces of bark will be the same, so it's very fun to see how the shards will turn out. Kids and adults alike will love making this stuff, so if you get stuck for something to do during that week between Christmas and New Year, give this a go!