Christmas mendiants

Tempered chocolate is the secret to professional-looking chocolate. Chocolate that has been tempered is smooth, with a shiny finish and a satisfying snap. Chocolate that is simply melted and not tempered tends to be soft or sticky at room temperature, and can also have grey or white streaks or spots. Tempering is the solution to avoiding these problems.

The first step is to melt two-thirds of the chocolate in a clean, dry bowl set over simmering water, until the chocolate reaches 46 degrees Celsius. Then remove from heat and stir the remaining one third of the chocolate. This is called seeding. Keep stirring until the chocolate has melted and cooled to 27 degrees Celsius. Once the chocolate has cooled, put it over a saucepan of water and bring the temperature up to 31 degrees at which point the chocolate is ready to use.

Put parchment paper on a tray or baking sheet. Temper the chocolate as described above, then, using a teaspoon, spoon small circles of chocolate about four centimetres wide. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle topping over each disc. I leave the decoration and flavour up to you. Nuts, Turkish delight, crystallised violets, orange peel, dried cranberries can all be used – let your imagination go festively wild.