Question: black forest bark idea

[Roxanne]

Hey guys, I came across the idea of black forest bark on a blog a couple days back and I been toying with the idea of making my own version of it. The original recipe uses dark chocolate, white chocolate, dried cherries and kirsch liqueur (which the cherries are soaked and rehydrated in) and the author said you could add something for crunch like rice kripsies or chocolate wafers in there too.

Okay so I never ate dried cherries before, not sure if I've seen them here before but something tells me I might not be a fan of them. Will have to try them though to make sure.

Anyway I was thinking of doing my own version of this bark using
cherry pie filling which will be cooked down in cherry brandy (which is what I have on hand)
Semi-sweet chocolate
Oreo cookie crumbs
White chocolate
Chocolate jimmies for decoration

My basic idea is to mix some of the brandied cherries into the semisweet chocolate, spread on pan, then put on a layer of the crushed oreos, on top this goes a white chocolate layer which also have some of the brandied cherries mixed in, sprinkle the top with chocolate jimmies and voila!

Here is where I need help, measurements, I would like some ratio of ingredients suggestions and I also want to know if you guys think the cherry pie filling version or the original dried cherry version sound better. Thanks!

[Chocolatl]

I don't know about the pie filling. . .I think it would be too wet.

[invictus]

I agree......I don't think the pie filling would work.

[Roxanne]

Well since I was thinking about cooking it down in cherry brandy to infuse the liqueur I was going to basically cook out as much as the "sauce" as possible. Do you think it would still be too wet? It didn't even cross my mind. I didn't see dried cherries here. The only other cherry option I have are maraschinos. Any more feedback much appreciated.

[Denise]

I'd just use dried cranberries and tell people they're cherries

[Roxanne]

Denise that is a great idea cause I have seen the cherry flavoured craisins, the only problem is I don't like the taste of craisins which is kinda why I figured I may not like the dried cherries even if I found them. Hence the idea of using cherry pie filling. Or maybe I can adapt it to use maraschino cherries or maybe I can just do a rum and raisin bark. Soak the raisins in dark rum or the cherry brandy. Hmm...

[elsie]

Dried cherries taste really good! Taste nothing like craisins. I just ate some bark with dried cherries and nuts in it. Yum!

[HeatherFeather]

Dried cherries are great! They are plumper and softer than craisins and quite a bit sweeter.

[Roxanne]

Thanks for the info. Elsie and Heather, then I would like them if they are sweeter. Maybe I'll check the gourmet store for them since I haven't seen them in the supermarkets yet (and the supermarkets have a very wide range of dried fruits these days)