We started by melting some Guittard 74% over a double boiler. If you're like me and don't own a fancy double boiler, just set a glass or stainless steel bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Just make sure the bowl is high enough so the water doesn't touch the bowl. While the chocolate was melting, we got started on the toppings. First, pecans!
Now that's when you know you're dealing with a great chef. I would have just plopped those pecans right onto the chocolate but I learned a great tip. First, sprinkle them with salt, pepper and drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil. Roast at 300 degrees for about 5 minutes or just until you can start smelling them.
I could have stopped right there. These were heaven. And that's when I got it. The secret to great bark isn't just that all the ingredients go well together. It is also that each ingredient stands on its own. If one thing is bland, the whole thing is bland.
Onto finely chopped dried apricots. Aren't those gorgeous?
Now that the chocolate has melted, time to temper it. Tempering is what gives chocolate is shiny finish and its snap when you break a piece. Without that essential step, the chocolate melts in your hand and doesn't keep very long. If you want to skip this step, no one will be upset. I don't think bark lasts more than a day in my house. =) But if you want to make some bark to give as presents or to ship to a friend, you should definitely temper your chocolate.
Tempering can be a bit tricky but there's an easy way to do it: Melt your chocolate to 115 degrees F. Take it off the stove, start stirring quickly and add pieces of chocolate to drop the temperature to 81 degrees F. Once you get to 81 degrees, place your bowl back over the water and heat back up to 88 degrees. Just make sure you don't get above 92 degrees. If you do, just start over.
Now that the science portion is over, let's get back to making that bark. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour in that liquid gold. We used a spatula to spread it into a thin, even layer.
Let it set for about 20 minutes and it's ready to cut into pieces.