I’m continuing my exploration into making confectionery this week by giving you my recipe for the simplest little sweet treat you could imagine, and what’s even better they took me a matter of 10 minutes to make in total. These are my White Chocolate Mendiants.
The great thing about mendiants is that you can put anything on the chocolate and there are endless possibilities. A contrast in texture is always best, so something soft or chewy works well with something crunchy or brittle. Here are some possible combinations you can use, however feel free to mix it up:
- Sultanas, salted peanuts, dried cranberries
- Fresh blueberries, dried apricots, chopped hazelnuts
- Roasted cashews, raisins, mixed peel
- Desiccated coconut, dried pineapple, pistachios
- Glace cherries, almonds, crushed digestive biscuits
- Crystallised ginger, walnuts, golden sultanas
When pairing ingredients together, not only should you think about contrasting textures, but the flavour combination and whether it matches your chocolate. Remember that white chocolate is a lot sweeter than a dark chocolate and that dark chocolate can take relatively strong flavours. Colours are important in making these mendiants look amazing; pair brighter colours with white chocolate and darker tones with dark chocolate.
The recipe is easily scaled up to make more than 10.
100g white chocolate
20g raisins
15g mixed peel
15g flaked almonds
15g roasted cashew nuts
Break up the white chocolate into squares and place into a microwaveable bowl. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 30 second blasts, giving it a stir after every 30 seconds. Do not overheat or the chocolate will burn.
Spoon 10 equal circles of white chocolate onto a sheet of baking parchment. If you hold the spoon in the same place when you spoon the chocolate onto the parchment, it will naturally make a circular shape.
Place your toppings on each mendiant as you wish. Make sure that they are spread out, the circle is not distorted and try to create height with your toppings. Place into the fridge to set. They are ready when you touch the chocolate and it is not sticky and has firmed up.
Lift the mendiants off the parchment, pushing them off the base of the parchment. Put the mendiants onto a plate and serve, accompanying a drink as a sweet treat or as a sweet canapé.
Andrew in the Kitchen 
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