Glossy, snappy dark chocolate discs topped with almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios and candied orange: the Christmas treat to give away.
Mendiants take their name from the four mendicant orders, whose robes the dried fruits and nuts were said to recall: almonds, hazelnuts, figs and raisins. They're topped chocolate discs, found on the Provençal table of thirteen desserts as well as in Christmas chocolate boxes.
The difference between homemade and chocolatier mendiants is the gloss and the snap when you break one. To get it, you pre-crystallize the chocolate by seeding: melt it, add chopped chocolate to cool it down, and work it at the right temperature. With a thermometer it's simple, and it changes everything.
Good to know · Mendiants contain tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios), a major allergen. If you give them away, say so clearly, and make a nut-free batch (raisins, orange peel, cranberries) for anyone with an allergy, using separate bowls and utensils.
Toast the almonds and hazelnuts in the dry frying pan over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring often: they're ready when they smell good and are lightly golden inside. Let them cool completely, rub the hazelnuts in a tea towel to remove their skins, and set out all the toppings in small bowls.
Line the tray with baking paper. Chop 200 g of the chocolate into even pieces, and the remaining 100 g very finely: that's what you'll seed with. Make sure the bowl, spatula and your hands are completely dry: a single drop of water makes chocolate seize up at once.
Put the 200 g chocolate in the bowl, set over the pan of barely simmering water (the bottom of the bowl mustn't touch the water). Melt, stirring gently, to 50 to 55 °C (122 to 131 °F) for dark chocolate. Lift the bowl off the water bath and wipe the bottom.
Add the 100 g finely chopped chocolate and stir constantly with the spatula: it melts as it cools everything down, and brings in the right crystals. Keep stirring until the chocolate drops to 31 to 32 °C (88 to 90 °F). If a few pieces are still unmelted at that point, fish them out.
Dip the tip of a knife in the chocolate and lay it on the counter. Within 3 to 5 minutes, the chocolate should set glossy with no white streaks. Does it? You can start. If it stays soft or streaky, stir for 2 more minutes and test again.
Drop a heaped teaspoon of chocolate onto the tray and swirl the back of the spoon to make a 4 to 5 cm disc. Make 5 or 6, no more, then tap the tray to smooth them. If the chocolate cools below 30 °C (86 °F) and thickens, set the bowl back over the water bath for a few seconds, without going above 32 °C (90 °F).
Place the toppings on each disc while it's still liquid, without waiting: an almond, a hazelnut, two or three pistachios, a piece of orange, a raisin. Press just enough for them to stick. Carry on disc by disc until the chocolate is used up.
Let the mendiants set for 1 hour in a cool room, between 16 and 20 °C (61 and 68 °F), without putting them in the fridge. They're ready when they lift off the paper by themselves, glossy underneath as well as on top.
Check off every step to celebrate.
In a tin, between sheets of baking paper, away from heat and moisture (ideally 15 to 18 °C, 59 to 64 °F), mendiants keep for 3 weeks. Avoid the fridge, or else use an airtight box and take it out 1 hour ahead, still closed, so they don't get covered in condensation.
The chocolate wasn't pre-crystallized, or it was worked too warm (above 32 °C, 90 °F, for dark), or they set in the fridge. It's only cocoa butter that has risen to the surface: they're still good, but for the gloss, melt them again and redo the temperature curve.
Yes, but with no guarantee of gloss: melt the chocolate very gently, just lukewarm, add a third of chopped chocolate and stir for a long time, then do the knife test. If it sets glossy within 5 minutes, you've won.
A drop of water or steam got into it: it has seized. It can't be tempered any more, but it's perfect for a sauce or a cake: use it elsewhere and start again with fresh chocolate.
Add this recipe to your meal, then come back for appetizers, a drink, cookies with coffee: Popotam brings them together, with the shopping for your whole table and the timeline up to dessert. Free, no account.
