5. Mendiants traditional French confection composed of a chocolate disk studded with nuts and dried fruits representing the four mendicant or monastic orders of the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans and Carmelites. raisins for the Dominicans hazelnut for the Augustins dried fig for Franciscans almond for Carmelite * Usually found during Christmas, recipes for this confection have veered away from the traditional combination of nuts and fruits to other combinations incorporating seeds, fruit peels and other items.
7. Truffle A Chocolate Truffle mixture is really a Ganache that is rolled into mis-shaped rounds to look like the real truffle fungus that grows around the roots of trees in France and Italy. Truffle is rich and elegant, bite-sized petit four made from a creamy mixture of chocolate, cream, and butter to which various flavorings can be added (liqueurs, extracts, nuts, coffee, purees, spices, candied or dried fruits).
8. Truffle Once the truffles are formed they are then rolled in cocoa powder to simulate the 'dirt' that the real truffles grow in. While cocoa powder is the traditional coating, truffles can also be coated in confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, toasted and chopped nuts, tempered chocolate, shredded coconut, or even shaved chocolate.
