Mix the potash and 3 tablespoons of hot water. Put flour, almonds, cocoa, sugar, butter, lard, syrup, spices and condensed milk in a bowl. Add the dissolved potash and knead to a smooth dough with the dough hooks of the hand mixer. Wrap dough in foil and refrigerate for about 2 hours. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of approx. 8 mm and cut out round cookies (approx. 3 cm Ø). Place the cookies on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper.
Bake one after the other in a preheated oven (electric range: 175 °C/ convection oven: 150 °C/ gas: level 2) for about 10 minutes. Remove the peppercorns from the oven and let them cool down on a cake rack. Roughly chop the chocolate and melt in a bowl over a warm water bath. Fill chocolate into a small freezer bag or piping bag and cut off 1 small corner. Decorate the pepper nuts with white couverture and put in a cool place for about 1 hour
waiting time approx. 3 1/2 hours