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Kate Battistelli

Author | Speaker | Mentor

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French Chocolate Bark

French Chocolate Bark-Easy and Elegant Dessert

Chocolate is my love language, my BFF, my favorite. I especially adore it with crunchy nuts and sweet and tangy bits of dried fruit. As a child, I was a huge Raisinets and Goobers fan, always my choice at the movies. Ideally, I’d finagle a box of each so I could enjoy them at the same time, the crunchy, salty peanuts and the sweet raisins wrapped in sublime chocolate.

Here’s a more mature, sophisticated but incredibly easy version of nuts and fruit for your holiday giving and enjoying. I think a box of French Chocolate Bark tied up with a pretty bow would make a marvelous hostess gift and it’s perfect as an easy dessert after a holiday meal.

French Chocolate Bark

Recipe based on Ina Garten’s from her book, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole, salted almonds
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup finely diced crystallized ginger
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup finely diced dried apricots
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Using a pencil, draw a rectangle that is approximately the size of a standard sheet of paper (8-1/2 inches by 11 inches) on a piece of Unbleached Parchment Paper
    placed on a sheet pan, then turn the parchment paper over.
  3. Spread the almonds in a single layer on another sheet pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, until just toasted. Set aside to cool. (You will not need the oven after this.)
  4. You can melt your chocolate either on the stovetop (my preferred way) or in a microwave. Stovetop method — Put chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl that fits over a pot of barely simmering water (or put the bowl directly in a wide, shallow skillet of barely simmering water). Stir from time to time until the chocolate is melted and smooth then remove from the heat. Don’t let water come in contact with the chocolate. Make  sure your bowl and spoon or spatula are completely dry. Even small amounts of water can cause chocolate to “seize,” or turn into a stiff, grainy mess. Seized chocolate can be brought back to a smooth state by adding cream, but this won’t work with this recipe so be careful not to get any water in your chocolate!
  5. Microwave method –  Place the semisweet chocolate and half the bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe glass bowl and microwave on high power for 20 to 30 seconds. Stir with rubber spatula. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted. Immediately add the remaining bittersweet chocolate and allow It to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
  6. Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it lightly into the drawn rectangle.
  7. Sprinkle the top evenly in the following order: ginger, nuts, cranberries, apricots, raisins. Set aside for 1 to 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark in 18 to 20 pieces and serve at room temperature.
  8. Store in airtight container in a cool, dry place for several weeks.

French Chocolate Bark-Easy and Elegant Dessert

Spread the melted chocolate in a rectangle on your parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

French Chocolate Bark-Easy and Elegant Dessert

Sprinkle with assorted nuts and dried fruit and let harden. Then break into pieces and enjoy!

Kate’s Tips

  • I refrigerate the bark after it hardens.  I think it keeps longer that way.
  • Feel free to use whatever combination of roasted nuts and dried fruit you like. Dried dates, figs, pineapple, mango, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, the combinations are endless! Be creative and have fun.
  • Add a sprinkle of sea salt or Himalayan Pink salt for an added crunch.
  • Or, add a 1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne or ground black pepper for a savory snap!

French Chocolate Bark-Easy and Elegant Dessert

 Enjoy!

Category: Desserts, Gluten Free, Special Occasions/HolidaysTag: Barefoot Contessa:Back to Basics, chocolate, Christmas Candy, Easy Holiday Candy, French Chocolate Bark, Gifts from the Kitchen, Hostess Gifts, Ina Garten

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#Repost @joyfullifemagazine ・・・ I think abou #Repost @joyfullifemagazine ・・・
I think about heaven a lot. I can sense a hint of the banquet, hear an echo of the orchestra tuning up. I can almost smell the bread baking, hear the hustle and bustle of those setting the table getting all things ready.⁠⠀
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When I go outside, I feel the ache in nature, desperate to give voice to centuries of silence. I catch a glimpse of eternity in a perfect flower or a shooting star.⁠⠀
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But I don't want to spoil my appetite. I prefer to wait with eager anticipation because even though I don't fully know what I'm waiting for, I do know this: I was made for a specific, incredible, perfect place and I know Who's I am. I know a day is soon coming when I'll look up and see the sight my heart ever longs for, the sight I was made for—my King, coming on clouds of Glory, to take me up with Him where there is no more crying, no fear, no sorrow, no sin, no disease.⁠⠀
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We are all in a season of dying. We've had to die to our routines and expectations, our way of life that seemed normal and good just weeks ago. ⁠But in seasons of death, we can look for resurrection. Life is hard and confusing at the moment but it's still good. Death is hard but resurrection is always worth it. And resurrection is coming. New life, new ways of living are coming.⁠⠀
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"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:19, ESV)⁠.⁠⠀
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He always makes a way, friend. It might not look the way you thought it would, but you can trust He has you. Now's the time to press in, lean into His heart, ask Him what He would have you do or say or learn during this time when so much makes so little sense. If you ask and quiet the noise of your heart, He will answer. ⁠⠀
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When Mary went to the tomb early that morning, she didn't recognize the resurrected Christ. She looked but didn't see...until He said her name. As soon as He said, "Mary," she knew.⁠⠀
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In seasons of dying, something will resurrect, I promise. ⁠⠀
Tag a friend who needs to be encouraged by this today! ❤️. #writersofig #authorsofig #calledcreatives #hopewriters #hopewriterlife #amwriting #resurrection
These are crazy, trying times we’re living in an These are crazy, trying times we’re living in and we could all use a little encouragement, right?? I’m excited to be part of the Brave Moms conference starting today 5/7-5/9. It’s completely free and each day there are new sessions that will give you Peace in the Middle 💕. Get all the info over at @bravemoms  I hope you’ll join us, I know you’ll be blessed!💕. #bravemoms #motherhoodinspired #peaceinthemiddle #mothering #honestlymothering #christianmoms #mothersofig #bravemom #momssupportingmoms #speakingtruth
This is on Facebook, y’all. I don’t know how t This is on Facebook, y’all. I don’t know how they picked me and my book but I’m beyond thrilled they did!!. Tomorrow at 2pm Central I will be on the @booksamillion Facebook page for their Pray in May series answering questions as the video I made about THE GOD DARE plays. The page has over 350,000 likes so it’s a little intimidating but exciting for sure😊

The series began on Sunday with the incredible @sheilawalsh1 and now it’s my turn. I’m believing folks will be inspired and blessed by my story and motivated to step out and take God at His Word. To once and for all let go of fear and doubt and step with Him into the glorious future. To choose to be chosen to change the world!. This is the perfect season to dig deep with God and hear His heart for what’s next for your life. He is speaking. The Holy Spirit is talking to you, yes YOU. All you need to do is listen and follow. He might ask you to do something that seems impossible but, remember this: the impossible is God’s comfort zone!. I hope you can join me tomorrow!. #prayinmay #booksamillion #thegoddare #faithingod #faithfulness #faithoverfear #hopeingod #choosetobechosen #impossible #seasonofchange
@joyfullifemagazine ・・・ After one baby, I de @joyfullifemagazine ・・・
After one baby, I dealt with infertility, or should I say, infertility dealt with me. 
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God let me dangle over a precipice of self-pity until I was ready to do three things:. To read the rest, jump over to @joyfullifemagazine and look for the same picture as this post 😊 Thanks!!. #infertilityawareness #infertilityawareness #infertilityjourney #mothering #honestmothering #pregnancyloss #miscarriage
Super excited to share that the newest issue of @t Super excited to share that the newest issue of @thepodcastmag came out today with a list of their top 50 motherhood podcasts and guess what? @momtomompodcast is number 36!! Of all the zillions of motherhood podcasts out there we are 36 and, they did a beautiful 4 page article on us!. God is so good. I am in awe. We are in the top 50 with names you know and love like @emilypfreeman, @dontmomalone, @drmichellebengtson @mimikacooney @jamieivey and so many more.

We started our podcast a little more than a year ago and we’ve been consistently building & growing and loving the community we’ve begun to see grow around Mom to Mom.

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New post up at @momtomompodcast!. So much about Go New post up at @momtomompodcast!. So much about God and His Word is still a mystery, even to the greatest theological minds down through the ages. Faith–simple, childlike #faith is what holds the whole thing up. But, do we just stop there?
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In 2 Timothy 2:15, we’re charged to rightly handle the Word of Truth and to study to show ourselves approved unto God. And in 1 Peter 3, we’re told to always be ready to give an account of the hope that we have in Christ.
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#christianmom #momtomompodcast #stopcallingmebeautiful #phyliciamasonheimer
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