Chocolate mendiants
Mendiants are made with a thin layer of chocolate, stuck with toasted nuts, dried and candied fruit.
65 K 4.8/5 (4 reviews)
1 hour 2 min.
Easy
2.70 €
20 pieces
8 IngredientsLast modified on: May 27th 2020
For 20 pieces, you will need:
- 1
30 g candied grapefruit peel - 2
20 raisins - 3
20 whole almonds - 4
10 walnut kernels - 5
20 hazelnuts - 6
20 pistachios - 7
20 pine nuts - 8
100 g dark chocolate - Total weight: 220 grams
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 30 min.
Cooking: 35 min.
All in all: 1 hour 2 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - ⌛ 3 min.
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Chop 30 g candied grapefruit peel into small dice.
Separate 20 raisins (they often come stuck together).
Chop 30 g candied grapefruit peel into small dice.
Separate 20 raisins (they often come stuck together).
Stage 2 - ⌛ 15 min.
Lay a sheet of cooking parchment on a baking sheet and spread out 20 whole almonds, 10 walnut kernels, and 20 hazelnuts.
Toast the nuts in the oven for 15 minutes.
Toast the nuts in the oven for 15 minutes.
Stage 3 - ⌛ 4 min.
After this time, take the nuts out of the oven. Tip the almonds and walnuts off the baking sheet and (if necessary) rub the hazelnuts in tea towel to remove the skins.
Leave to cool.
Leave to cool.
Stage 4 - ⌛ 10 min.
Reuse the same paper and baking sheet to toast 20 pistachios and 20 pine nuts in the oven for 10 minutes. Being smaller, they will not take as long.
Leave to cool.
Leave to cool.
Stage 5 - ⌛ 10 min.
Melt 100 g dark chocolate over a bain-marie. The usual method is to put the chocolate in a bowl, but if you use a small bottle instead, this makes the next stage easier.
Stage 6
Check that the chocolate is fully melted.
Stage 7
For this recipe, I used a silicon mould with rectangular compartments, but you can use whatever you have to hand - the shape doesn't matter.
Stage 8
Pour a thin layer of chocolate into the moulds (now the bottle comes into its own).
Stage 9
Then arrange the fruit and nuts on top.
When everything is on, press down into the chocolate with your fingers.
When everything is on, press down into the chocolate with your fingers.
Stage 10 - ⌛ 20 min.
My tip: work like a production line. Pour all the chocolate first, then add the all almonds, next the raisins, etc.
This way, all your mediants will look the same.
This way, all your mediants will look the same.
Stage 11
Refrigerate for 2 hours to set the chocolate and make sure the fruit and nuts are stuck.
Stage 12
Take your mendiants out of their moulds gently, and leave to come back to room temperature before handing round or tucking in yourself.
Remarks
The French name means "mendicants", after the 4 types of fruit and nuts traditionally used in the Provençal thirteen Christmas desserts to represent the 4 mendicant religious orders: raisins for the Augustines, hazelnuts for the Carmelites, figs for the Franciscans and almonds for the Dominicans.
You can vary the topping depending on the fruit and nuts you have to hand, but do try to keep a mix of toasted nuts + dried fruit + candied fruit.
You can vary the topping depending on the fruit and nuts you have to hand, but do try to keep a mix of toasted nuts + dried fruit + candied fruit.
Keeping: Several days in a sealed container.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 30 RDI=10 % | 230 RDI=20 % | 100 RDI=20 % | 1,220 RDI=60 % | 5,110 RDI: 60 % |
| Per 100 g | 10 RDI=5 % | 100 RDI=10 % | 40 RDI=7 % | 550 RDI=30 % | 2,320 RDI: 30 % |
| Per piece | 1 RDI=1 % | 10 RDI=1 % | 4 RDI=1 % | 60 RDI=3 % | 260 RDI: 3 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 20 pieces : 2.70 €
- Per piece : 0.15 €
Change currency:
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Dark chocolate
Like these other recipes: Paris flan filling, How to break a chocolate bar into small pieces, Bounty-style tart for Alison, Chocolate almond cookies, Chocolate-verbena cream, ... See them all 39
Candied grapefruit peel
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Chocolate cream with a crunch, irish coffee mousse, Brioche royale, Chocolate thins with toasted nuts, Chocolate orangettes for Erika, Grapefruit moelleux, ... See them all 6
Raisins
Like these other recipes: Sweet pancake rolls from Brittany, Chocolate cereal bars, Caramel semolina pudding with raisins, Tyrolean apple crumble, Benoîton, ... See them all 20
Pistachios
Like these other recipes: Mini apricot and pistachio brioches, Nougat, Frozen nougat, Chocolate cereal bars, Moist cereal bars, ... See them all 18
Other recipes you may also like
Brioche dough
It's a soft and rich dough, with butter and eggs which give a smooth and incredibly tasty brioche. This is the basic recipe for brioche dough, used for all other brioche-based recipes on the site. September 16th 2020550 K 44.2 14 hours 30 min.
French croissants
In this famous and highly technical recipe from a piece of yeast-based flaky dough we are going to cut and shape ("roll") croissants. June 26th 2019655 K 24.4 2 hours 35 min.
French baguettes
This classic of French baking is rather different from the recipe for leavened bread, it's a question of making a good crust and light crumb along the whole length. To succeed, you should know that there are two secrets: water first of all (much more than for normal bread), and the working of the dough, which is also very different. October 24th 20171.11 M 364.7 5 hours 6 min.
Pâté de campagne
Here is a personal version of the famous country pâté. It's an interesting recipe to prepare in large quantities because it keeps well and freezes easily. The secret of a good pâté is of course the ingredients, but also how it is cooked. October 3rd 20192.14 M 23.7 7 hours 55 min.
Maroilles cheese quiche
Traditional recipe from northern France, using a typical and tasty regional cheese. But this can be replaced by another (see below). April 17th 2022267 K 34.7 2 hours 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-03-01)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.