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Traditionally served during Christmas, a mendiant is a traditional French confection made of a chocolate disc topped with various nuts and dried fruits. In French Provence, Christmas meals are followed by serving 13 desserts representing the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ.

According to Kakawa Chocolates, historically, mendiants represented the four mendicant or monastic orders of Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans and Carmelites. Each topping represents the color of monastic robes. Raisins for the Dominicans, Hazelnut for the Augustinians, dried fig for the Franciscans and almond for the Carmelite. Recipes for this confection have since veered away from the traditional combination to include many other kinds of dried fruits and nuts.

Though traditionally a French holiday confection, chocolate mendiant has since been adopted by the rest of the world as a year-round confection making it a perfect gift for chocolate lovers. This elegant dessert is actually simple to make.

What kind of chocolate to use?

For this recipe, I used 72% dark chocolate and picked a variety of dried fruits and nuts including almonds, dried kiwis, dried apricots, raisins and sunflower seeds among others. Make sure to use a good quality chocolate, the one with cocoa butter content. Pick the kind of chocolate you enjoy eating the most whether milk, dark, white and bittersweet chocolate.

Here are a few excellent chocolate options:

• Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate Wafers found in Winco Bulk Section

• Chocolate Pound Plus found in Trader Joe’s

• your favorite chocolate bar with cocoa butter

To learn more about the differences between real chocolate with cocoa butter and compound chocolate, check out this “Bean-to-Bar Chocolate FAQ” blog and “2 Simple Ways to Temper Chocolate at Home” blog.

What equipment do you need?

• Food thermometer or a spatula with a thermometer

• metal or glass bowl

• small pot (to use for double boiler)

• spatula

• parchment paper or a silicone mat

• pastry bag or ziplock bag

What nuts and dried fruits to use?

The traditional mendiants use almonds, hazelnuts, raisins and dried figs. It’s really up to what you like to eat. Chocolate is an excellent pair to many different nuts and dried fruits. Get creative with it!

Here are some options:

• Nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, macadamia, pistachio

• Dried fruits: fig, mango, apricots, orange, kiwi, papaya

• Others: sunflower seeds, coconut shaving, sea salt, Oreo crumbs

• Freeze-dried fruits: strawberry, raspberry

Before making the mediants, temper your chocolate first…

When chocolate is melted at a certain temperature, its molecular structure is altered resulting in dull and chewy chocolate once cooled. Tempering is tricking the altered molecules to restructure back to their original state by adding unmelted chocolate. Tempered chocolate results in glossy chocolate with a snap once cooled, much like its original state before melting. To be able to coat a confection with a nice glossy finish, tempering is necessary.

There are many ways to temper chocolate but for this recipe, I used the double boiler seeding method which requires a food thermometer. Pay close attention to the temperature and make sure that the chocolate does NOT get in contact with any water. Also, different kinds of chocolate have different tempering temperatures. Refer to the chart below.

How Temper Chocolate (Double Boiler Seeding Method)

1. Finely chop or shave chocolate. This helps them melt faster without using extra heat.

2. Fill the pot with a little water and heat in low-medium heat. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.

3. Place 2/3 of the chopped chocolate in a glass or metal bowl and place it on top of the warm pot. Turn off the heat when the water starts to simmer.

4. With a spatula, mix the chocolate until all lumps are melted. Make sure the temperature does not exceed 120°F. I usually take the bowl out of the pot and set it on top of a towel once it reaches 115°F. Dry the bottom of the bowl with the towel.

5. Add half of the remaining chopped chocolate and mix until melted. Then add the rest of the chocolate and mix until melted.

6. Keep mixing until all lumps are gone and cool the chocolate to 82°F. This will take about 15 minutes. I leave the bowl on the counter and mix it occasionally.

7. Place it back on top of the pot and heat back up to between 89°F and 91°F.

8. The best working temperature is between 89°F and 91°F. If your chocolate starts to thicken, just place it back in the pot and melt but make sure it does not exceed 91°F.

Chocolate Temperature Chart:

• Dark or Semi-Sweet Chocolate: heat to 120°F then cool to 82°F and heat again to 89°F to start coating.

• Milk Chocolate: heat to 113°F then cool to 81°F and heat again to 86°F.

• White Chocolate: heat to 113°F then cool to 79°F and heat again to 82°F.

Check out these “2 Simple Ways to Temper Chocolate at Home” here.

How to make chocolate mendiants…

Ingredients: 1 pound of dark chocolate makes 30 pieces of 2-inch (diameter) mendiants. Nuts (slivered almonds and pistachios), dried fruits (kiwi, papaya, apricot), Oreo crumbs and sunflower seeds.

1. Prepare all toppings you need and set them aside. If needed, slice the dried fruits and nuts into smaller sizes.

2. Temper chocolate. Refer to the instructions above.

3. Place and flatten parchment paper or silicone mat in a sheet pan.

4. Pour the tempered chocolate into a pastry bag or a ziplock bag and snip the edge.

5. To get a perfect disc, keep the piping bag straight while gently squeezing the chocolate out. I piped the chocolate into 1.5” mounds.

6. If a pastry bag or ziplock bag isn’t available, you can drop a dollop of tempered chocolate using a spoon into the parchment paper.

7. Slightly tap the baking sheet to flatten the chocolate mounds into thinner discs.

8. Add the toppings and allow them to cool at room temperature. If tempered right, there is no need to refrigerate the chocolate. It should harden on its own in a few minutes and it should come off the parchment paper easily.

9. Best if stored in an air-tight container.

Though traditionally a French holiday confection, chocolate mendiants has since become a year-round confection around the world. What I love about it is its customization options. In fact, many Keto recipes include this as a dessert option. The choice is yours! Make your mediants as your palette pleases. Cheers!