We all know that one person who can whip up a delicious dessert at the drop of a hat. They're probably the same person who gives you an impeccably crafted Christmas card every year and who casually knits beautiful scarves just for the craic.

If, like us, you can only ever dream of being that person, then you need this fruit and nut chocolate bark recipe in your life. It's the ultimate "looks fancy but took zero effort" baking hack, and makes such a simple and thoughtful Christmas gift too.

This recipe is SO versatile – you can add any toppings you fancy but for this version we've gone with dried cranberries and chopped pistachios. For more colour you could add apricots, walnuts, almonds or even crushed pieces of candy cane – anything your heart desires!

This recipe calls for dark chocolate but if you want a sweeter version, feel free to use milk chocolate instead.

Cranberry, Pistachio and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Bark

Makes 10 large pieces

Ingredients:

• 230g good quality (70%) dark chocolate
• Handful of dried cranberries
• Handful of shelled unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Method

1. Line a standard baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Break the chocolate into squares and place in a heat-safe glass bowl.
3. Fill a small saucepan around one-third with water and bring to a gentle boil. 
4. Place the glass bowl over the saucepan, ensuring no water touches any part of the bowl.
5. Gently stir the chocolate until it has melted. 
6. Once melted and smooth, pour the chocolate onto the lined baking sheet and spread out into a long rectangular shape with a spatula or palette knife.
7. Sprinkle cranberries, pistachios and sea salt onto the chocolate, ensuring enough of the fruit and nuts are touching the chocolate so that they do not fall off later.
8. Chill in the fridge for around 1 hour.
9. Peel off parchment paper and break or chop into large pieces.