holiday recipes - grace grits and gardening

If you love Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream as much as I do, you will go crazy over my Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark. Rich dark and creamy white chocolate, tart cherries and decadent Dove dark chocolate flakes—are you with me on this?

Chocolate covered cherries are a traditional Christmas candy in our home, which makes this the perfect addition to my Christmas dessert table. This is a holiday no-brainer. Sinful, addictive, and easy to make.

So now I ask, what would Jerry do?

He would eat this up.

And then he would play.

Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

12 oz dark chocolate chips
10 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 cup rough chopped dried cherries
1/2 tsp almond extract
4 pieces Dove chocolate candies

Method

With a sharp knife, cut Dove dark chocolate candies into slivers. Buy a bag of these little jewels, but you will only need 3-4 pieces. Pour the remainder in a candy bowl. Dark chocolate has health benefits you know...
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt dark chocolate chips on 50% power, stirring every 30-45 seconds. When the chocolate is melted, add almond extract and stir until smooth. (Almond extract mixed with dark chocolate has a distinct cherry flavor so don't skip or substitute this...)
Spread melted dark chocolate onto parchment paper and smooth until the chocolate is approximately 1/4 inch thick. This is fun. Like making a mud pie.
Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to cool and set. When the dark chocolate layer has set (about thirty minutes), melt the white chocolate in a microwave bowl on 50% power. Stir every 30-45 seconds. White chocolate melts faster than dark chocolate so this will only take 2-3 minutes.
Pour white chocolate over dark chocolate and smooth to a thin layer.
While white chocolate is still hot, sprinkle Dove slivers and chopped cherries over the top, carefully pressing large pieces into the white chocolate. Work quickly before the white chocolate cools.
Place bark into refrigerator to set.
With a sharp knife, cut into pieces.
Share with friends!
Store Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark covered at room temperature.