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Created on August 21, 2026
Allergens: Tree nuts.From the ingredient list, against Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Always check the labels of the products you use.
The mendiant is a Provençal Christmas sweet: a disc of chocolate topped with dried fruit and nuts, whose colours were said to recall the habits of the four mendicant orders. It is also, incidentally, the most forgiving thing in confectionery — three ingredients, no baking, and irregularity is part of the charm.
Dried mango stands in very well for candied orange peel: less sugary, more fragrant, and it brings a softness that plays against the crunch of the cashew. Only one thing needs attention, and that is tempering the chocolate. We come to it below.
What makes a good mendiant
The dried mango must stay supple and must not release water. Ours is dried with no added sugar and no sulphiting agent, which gives it its amber colour and a franker taste than the bright orange strips on the shelf. Cut it with scissors rather than a knife: it sticks less.
The cashew is the only tree nut with no skin — the kernel is bare, clean white, with no bitterness. That is what makes it so photogenic on dark chocolate, where almonds or hazelnuts bring a brown skin. Toast it lightly: ten minutes at 150 °C changes everything.
The chocolate, finally. Take it at 70 % cocoa and of good quality: in a three-ingredient recipe where it is the main one, there is nowhere to hide. An ordinary baking bar will give an ordinary result.
The ingredients
For 24 mendiants:
- 200 g dark chocolate, 70 % cocoa
- 60 g organic dried mango, finely diced
- 60 g organic cashew nuts
- 1 pinch flaky sea salt
The recipe, step by step
- Toast the cashews. Ten minutes at 150 °C, watching them. Let them cool completely — a warm cashew would bloom the chocolate.
- Cut the mango with scissors, into five-millimetre dice. Have everything within reach: once the chocolate is poured, you will have to move quickly.
- Melt two thirds of the chocolate over a bain-marie, without going above 50 °C. Take it off the heat.
- Add the remaining third, in pieces, and stir until completely melted. The mixture should come back down to around 31 °C. This is tempering by seeding, and it is what gives chocolate that gloss and clean snap.
- Form the discs. A teaspoon of chocolate onto baking paper, spread with a circular movement into a three-centimetre disc.
- Garnish at once, two cashew pieces and two mango dice per disc, pressing barely at all. Finish with a grain of sea salt.
- Leave to set for two hours at room temperature, in a cool room. Not in the fridge: cold makes chocolate bloom.
The little extra
Tempering is not a pastry chef’s whim. Chocolate simply melted and left to cool turns dull and soft, and grows white streaks within two days. Tempered, it shines, it snaps cleanly and it keeps for weeks. The seeding method described above needs no equipment at all: keep a third of the chocolate aside and add it off the heat.
The real test: dip the tip of a knife in the chocolate and leave it five minutes in a cool room. If it sets glossy, you can pour. If not, keep stirring.
What to swap
- The dried mango → dried apricots or figs, cut just as small. Cranberries work but are often very sweet.
- The cashew → pistachios for colour, flaked almonds for ease. You will lose the clean white that makes the contrast.
- The dark chocolate → milk chocolate, tempered to 29 °C rather than 31. It will mask the mango, which is a shame.
- The sea salt → nothing, if you dislike it. But try it before deciding: it is what keeps the mendiant from cloying.
Keeping and making ahead
At room temperature: 3 weeks in an airtight tin, cool and away from light. Between 16 and 18 °C is ideal.
In the fridge: best avoided. Chocolate picks up moisture there and blooms — harmless, but unsightly.
What can be done ahead: toasted cashews keep a week in a jar, cut mango two days. The assembly itself is done in one go.
Equipment
A kitchen thermometer — the only instrument that matters here, and it costs about the price of two bars. Failing that, trust the knife test. Baking paper, and a teaspoon.
Nutrition
We do not show a table for this recipe, and we would rather say so. Public composition data do not document unsulphited dried mango with no added sugar; what exists covers strips quite unlike ours. We would rather not put forward anything we cannot establish. An analysis of our batch is under way.
What can be said without error: this is a chocolate sweet. Two with the coffee, and that is right.
Frequently asked questions
My chocolate has turned white, is that bad?
No, that is cocoa butter risen to the surface: perfectly edible, only less handsome. It comes from failed tempering or a spell in the cold.
Can I melt the chocolate in a microwave?
Yes, in twenty-second bursts, stirring between each. The risk is going past 50 °C without noticing, and overheated chocolate cannot be rescued.
The toppings will not stay on, why?
You waited too long. Chocolate begins to set in three or four minutes: garnish as you go, six discs at a time, not twenty-four.
Do they work as a present?
That is rather their purpose. In a clear bag tied with ribbon they keep three weeks — so make them well before the holidays.
The products in this recipe
What to try next
- Dried mango and ginger chutney — the same bag, savoury this time.
- Organic cashew nuts — pieces are cheaper and just as good here.
- Cashew chicken with ginger and sesame — the savoury side of the same nut.
