CHOCOLATE BEGGARS

Chocolate beggars are coins of dark chocolate embedded with toasted hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios. This is a Burgundian recipe and the colors of the nuts, brown, grey and reddish beige, echo the robes of the beggar monks of the Middle Ages. Candied lemon is the most appropriate color of the peel but orange tastes the best.

Makes about 30 beggars
¾ cup/90 g peeled hazelnuts
¾ cup/90 g unblanched almonds
½ cup/60 g peeled pistachios
1/3 cup/60 g diced candied orange or lemon peel
¾ lb/375 g dark chocolate, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C. spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until browned, 20-25 minutes; let them cool. Also toast the almonds for about the same time.

2. Pour boiling water over the diced candied peel. Drain and dry it on paper towels – this removes any sugar crystals.

3. Set the chocolate in a metal bowl to conduct the heat over a pan of hot but not boiling water. Heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted.

4. Line 2 baking sheets or trays with wax or parchment paper. Drop tablespoonfuls of warm chocolate from the point of the spoon onto the paper to make 1¼-inch/3-cm rounds. If the chocolate runs too much, wait a few minutes until it cools and thickens a bit.

5. After shaping a dozen rounds and before the chocolate sets, add a hazelnut, an almond, a pistachio, and a cube of candied peel to each one. Continue with the remaining chocolate.

6. Leave the beggars to set in a cool place (they lose their gloss in the refrigerator), then peel then from the paper. Store them, layered with paper, in an airtight container.