White Chocolate Bark with Blueberries, Toasted Pine Nuts and a Zest of Lemon

This week I’ve been telling you all about our holiday party where we featured a sweet ‘n’ savory menu that would be IDEAL for any New Year’s Eve event. Today and tomorrow I’m giving you my own recipes that I’ve adapted to fit in with the theme.

I’ve made a dried blueberry and lemon zest white chocolate bark many times over the years. The pairing of toasted pine nuts with lemon for this recipe was inspired by the Rosemary-Lemon Tartlets with Pine Nut Shortbread recipe from Tasha DeSerio‘s Sweets and Sparklers article found in Fine Cooking magazine this month.

• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 tsp finely ground salt
• 1 cup dried blueberries
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 lb white chocolate (use a brand that has cocoa butter as one of the first listed ingredients and it will melt easier)

Warm a skillet over medium-low heat for a minute or two. Add pine nuts and stir until sides of some nuts are golden (2-3 minutes). Sprinkle with the salt and transfer to a bowl to cool.

Line two 8×8 inch pans with foil.

Combine the cooled pine nuts with the dried blueberries and the lemon zest until zest is evenly distributed.

Melt white chocolate over low heat in a double-boiler (follow the instructions for melting chocolate found in DeSerio’s Bittersweet Chocolate Bark recipe).

Once the bowl of chocolate has been removed from the water, stir in the pine nut mixture. Scrape half of the white chocolate mixture into each of the prepared pans, spreading the blue speckled creaminess out with a spatula and shaking the pans a little to even things out.

Place the pans in the fridge to cool. Lick the spatula (then wash the spatula!).

Once the bark has cooled completely (about 30 minutes), lift the foil with the bark from the pans and turn it over. Remove the foil and cut the bark into 48 jagged pieces.

Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 1 week before serving.

Note, if left at room temp for long, this bark gets a bit melty. So that your guests don’t end up with chocolate covered fingertips, serve the bark like this: Put 5 or 6 ice cubes into a soup bowl, center a dinner-plate-sized serving plate on top of the bowl, and then put the white shards of yumminess onto the serving plate. The few bits of ice in the bowl below the plate will keep the chocolate a bit cooler and will stop it from melting on your guests.

Check out my other recipes that were inspired by Fine Cooking’s Sweets and Sparklers menu: Salted Pineapple Pecan Slice, Rosemary-Orange-Lemon-Curd Slice, Spicy Maple Cashews, and Cranberry Ginger Brie.

Also have a look at my reviews of some of the items from the Sweets and Sparklers menu: my review of Popcorn with Sweet Butter and Sea Salt, my review of Apple, Fennel and Cheddar Cheese Straws, my review of Bittersweet Chocolate Bark with Marcona Almonds).