On Valentine’s Day my husband presented me with a heart-shaped box of delicious chocolates from a local family-run chocolatier. It was filled with chocolate dipped caramels, vanilla cremes, raspberry jellies, and cherry cordials. I offered a piece to my husband, but he pushed it aside. “Nah,” he said, “that stuff’s too sweet for me. I just like chocolate. Really dark chocolate, sometimes with almonds and maybe sea salt.”
My husband has good taste.
The week before had been a deluge of new work and suddenly looming deadlines for me. The dates whizzed by, and I hadn’t really realized it was Valentine's Day until the night before when I made chocolate waffles to cure a craving (see earlier blog post) and realized that my waffle maker, which churns out waffles in the shape of a circle of five hearts, had just helped me create the perfect romantic Valentine’s morning breakfast.
When my husband presented me with chocolate, I was chagrinned. I married a romantic. My husband has kept every card I’ve ever given him. His phone recently ran out of storage for voice mail because he hadn't yet found an app to download several memorable voice messages he has saved over the last seven years. He is a man upon whom a celebratory gesture is never wasted.
I found myself plotting to make a beautiful card by dinnertime. I scanned my computer for good photos and searched my office for quality paper supplies. When my husband described his ideal chocolate concoction, an even better idea began to grow in my head. I snuck off to the kitchen and started rattling around. A half an hour later, I presented him with this.
Dark chocolaty, crunchy, and filled with love.
DARK CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK WITH SEA SALT
- 8 ounces dark chocolate
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 c. whole raw almonds (if using roasted, skip the roasting step)
- 1 tsp. course sea salt
Pre-heat oven 350 degrees. Place the almonds in a single layer in an oven safe pan. Roast for 5 minutes and stir around to promote even roasting. Check every two minutes until almonds are nicely browned and have a pleasing nutty smell. Remove from oven and turn off heat. Allow almonds to cool. Meanwhile melt chocolate in a double boiler. Coarsely chop the almonds. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spread chocolate in a thin layer on the parchment paper. Sprinkle almonds on melted chocolate, sprinkle salt atop almonds. Place baking pan in the freezer to harden for about fifteen minutes. Break bark into snack-sized pieces.
So delicious. Click through the slideshow below to see how easily it's done.
