How To Keep Your Peppermint Bark From Separating

Peppermint bark is one of the easiest (and yummiest!) candies you can make during the holiday season. Usually, it just involves melting and tempering chocolate, sprinkling in crushed candy canes, and letting it all set. But if you usually like to make your bark with a couple of layers of chocolate (like dark chocolate and white chocolate layers), you might've had a problem with the bark separating in the past. The two layers can easily split from each other once the bark is set, but you can prevent them from separating with just a few simple tricks.

Some recipes call for letting the first layer of chocolate set completely before pouring the second layer on top; however, if you wait for the first layer to completely harden and cool, it's more likely to separate from the next layer. According to Dinner then Dessert, you shouldn't let the first layer cool completely before pouring on the next one; instead, let it harden a little so the two layers don't blend, but pour on your second layer before it hardens completely. Another trick that will help keep the bark together is to let it come to room temperature before you try slicing or breaking the pieces. Especially if you've stored it in the fridge, letting it warm up a little gives the chocolate a chance to come together before you break apart the pieces.

If you're still having problems with the layers of your peppermint bark separating, you might want to check the ingredients in the chocolate you're using. According to KitchenLane, if you're making peppermint bark with a layer of real chocolate, you'll want to make sure the white chocolate layer is made with cocoa butter. If you use a type of white chocolate made with palm kernel or coconut oil, the dark and white chocolate layers will separate from each other because the oil won't allow it to bond to the dark chocolate layer.

Finally, if you're not too concerned about having two distinct layers and just want to use dark and white chocolate, you don't necessarily have to layer them on top of each other – instead, you can swirl them together. You can find multiple recipes that call for swirling instead of layering, like this one from For the Love of Cooking. The difference is you'll melt both types of chocolate at the same time, then pour one right on top of the other without letting it set at all. Then, you can swirl the chocolate into any pattern you want before sprinkling crushed candy canes on top. No layers means no separating, so the two chocolates will stay blended together. It's also one of the prettiest solutions to the separation problem!