White Chocolate-Cocoa Nib Mendiants

Mendiants are little chocolate discs, topped with anything you like. They originate from France where mendiant means "beggar of alms". Traditionally they used to be topped with blanched almonds, raisins, hazelnut and dried figs in order to represent the white, grey, brown and purple robes worn by, respectively, Dominican, Franciscan, Carmelite and Augustinian friars. But nowadays, of course, anything goes.

I made mine with white chocolate and cocoa nibs. These work wonderfully together, the sweetness and softness of the white chocolate perfectly balances the bitterness and crunch of the nibs.

Other combos I'm curious about are white chocolate and matcha powder. Or white chocolate and bitter beer granules. Not that I've ever heard that anyone has invented those yet, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about them.