Chocolate Almond Bark with Sea Salt

Sugar can be difficult to work with.  Stir the sugar and water together to dissolve, bring to a boil, then don't touch it until it turns golden brown.  Remove from the heat before you stir in the butter.  Use a high quality dark chocolate, and stir frequently as it melts.  Once most of the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and continue to stir until completely melted.  Overheating will cause the chocolate to get clumpy.  Malden sea salt is a wonderful flaky salt to finish the candy with.  You can buy it online from Amazon.

• 1/2 c sugar 
• 1 T unsalted butter 
• 1 1/2 c roasted almonds 
• 1 pound good-quality dark chocolate (62%–70% cacao), finely chopped 
• Coarse sea salt (for sprinkling) 

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or foil. Combine sugar with 3 T water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring, until caramel is dark amber, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately add butter; whisk until melted. Add almonds; stir until well coated. Transfer to baking sheet, spreading out to separate nuts. Let cool. Break up any large clumps of nuts. Set aside 1/4 of nuts.

Stir chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted. Remove from heat, add nuts from baking sheet, and stir quickly to combine. Spread chocolate-nut mixture on same baking sheet, keeping nuts in a single layer. Top with the reserved nuts; sprinkle with salt. Chill until chocolate is set, about 3 hours.

Break bark into pieces and store between layers of parchment or waxed paper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.