Warm some sweet chocolate by pounding it in a hot mortar; when it is reduced to a malleable paste, take a little of it and wrap round a blanched pistachio nut, roll it in the hand to form it as neat as you can, throw it in some nonpareils of various colours; let it be covered all over. Dispose of the whole in the same manner; fold them in coloured or fancy papers, with mottoes; the ends should be cut like fringe. Almonds may be done the same way, using vanilla chocolate, if preferred.

Chocolate Drops, with Nonpareils. Have some warm chocolate, as for pistachios; some add a little butter or oil to it to make it work more free; make it into balls about the size of a small marble, by rolling a little in the hand, or else put some of the paste on a flat piece of wood, on which you form, and take them off with a knife. Place them on sheets of white paper about an inch apart. When the sheet is covered, take it by the corners and lift it up and down, letting it touch the table each time, which will flatten them. Cover the surface entirely with white nonpareils, and shake off the surplus ones. When the drops are cold they can be taken off the paper easily. The bottom of the drops should be about as broad as a sixpence. Some of them may be left quite plain.

Good chocolate should be of a clear red brown. As the colour is paler or darker, so is the article the more or less good. The surface should be smooth and shining. If this gloss comes off by touching, it indicates an inferior quality, and is probably adulterated. When broken, it ought to be compact and close, and not appear crumbly. It should melt gently in the mouth when eaten, leaving no roughness or astringency, but rather a cooling sensation on the tongue. The latter is a certain sign of its being genuine.