Matcha, cranberry, sea-salt bark (posh choccy gifts)

'Tis the season to be jolly and eat fancy chocs so here's a really easy 'recipe'. I say that in inverted commas because it's more a case of melting some chocolate and doing some fancy swirling and then decorating. BUT it means you can create your bark in any flavour you like and make it look really pretty. It's such a lovely gift and means you can also get creative with your wrapping.

I made these in less than 30 minutes and it certainly beats Thorntons of Hotel Chocolat for Secret Santa gifts.

Ingredients:

200g bar of dark choc
85g bar of white choc
1 tsp matcha green tea powder
40g dried cranberries
50g flaked coconut
Pinch of sea salt

Method:

Using two bain-marie (a saucepan of simmering water with a heat-proof bowl inside), melt the white chocolate in one bowl and the dark chocolate in another. When melted, add the matcha tea powder to the white chocolate and stir well (I used a mini whisk to avoid any powdery clumps). Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a large chopping board or baking tray (that will fit in your fridge) and pour the dark chocolate into a thinnish layer (if you want to make the bark more chunky then keep it around 0.5cm thick). Then pour the white (now green) chocolate on top and using a tooth pick or sharp knife make pretty swirls. Sprinkle the cranberries, coconut and sea salt on top and then refrigerate for an hour or so until hard.
When set, break up into shards or squares. Wrap in clear gift wrap and decorate with anything seasonal!

You can use any type of chocolate and any flavours. Next up for me is orange zest and crystallised ginger, and then maybe a peanut butter white choc swirl!