150gwhite chocolate dropsuse the best quality you can afford (I used cook's Chocolate by Trish)
150gmilk chocolate dropsuse the best quality you can afford (I used cook's 38% Chocolate by Trish)
150gdark chocolate dropsuse the best quality you can afford (I used cook's 72% Green & Black's)
50gdried fruityour choice (I used cranberries, mango pieces (cut into small strips), dried physalis and strips of homemade candied orange and lemon peel))
50gnutsyour choice (I used shelled unsalted pistachios and blanched almonds, split in half)
For each batch of chocolate, draw about 30 circles, a couple of centimetres apart, on a sheet of greaseproof paper using a pencil and plastic milk bottle top.
Turn the sheet over so you can see the circles but won't get any contamination from the pencil lead.
Place the dried fruit and nuts In separate bowls so you can keep track of what's what.
50 g dried fruit, 50 g nuts
Melt the white chocolate slowly in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot but not quite boiling water.
150 g white chocolate drops
Spoon teaspoonfuls of the chocolate into the circles spreading it out to fill the entire circle (I made 30).
Working fast place a cranberry, pistachio and a piece of mango or phsyalis on each chocolate circle before it sets.
Dust some glitter over the tops (I used Disco Gold). I find a small paint brush is useful for this.
edible glitter
Leave in a cool place to set for at least an hour, but not the fridge. Peel the mendiants off with a palette knife.
Melt all but 30g of the milk chocolate using the same method as above. As soon as the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat and add the reserved 30g. Leave to melt, then stir. This is known as the seeding method of tempering, but without a thermometer it can be a bit hit and miss. If you know how to temper chocolate, then use your preferred method.
150 g milk chocolate drops
Spoon the melted chocolate into the circles as before (I made 30).
Top with cranberries, mango pieces and almonds and leave to set.
Dust with glitter as before (I used Disco Gold).
Leave to set, as before.
Lastly, melt the dark chocolate using the same method as the milk chocolate (I made 32).
150 g dark chocolate drops
Top with pieces of candied orange or lemon peel.
Dust with glitter (I used Antique Gold).
Leave to set, as before.
Notes
For a quicker homemade gift, just make one or two of these batches of chocolate mendiants, rather than all three.
Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.