Calisson
Photo: Georges Seguin (Okki) · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Calissons are tied to Aix-en-Provence, where most are still made. The name probably comes from the Provençal calissoun, a small chalice. Confections with similar names appear centuries before the Aix sweet: a 12th-century Latin text from Padua and Martino da Canal's Estoires de Venise of about 1275 both mention one, and a Provençal form, calisçon, has been cited from 1503.

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Common allergens: Nuts, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield Makes about 30Hands-on 45 minTotal 26 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 200g blanched almonds
  • 200g candied melon
  • 50g candied orange peel
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp orange flower water
  • 2 sheets of edible wafer paper
  • For the icing: 1 egg white and about 150g icing sugar

Method

  1. Grind the almonds finely with the icing sugar in a food processor.
  2. Add the candied melon and orange peel and process to a firm, smooth paste; work in the orange flower water.
  3. Press the paste 1cm thick onto the wafer paper and leave it to dry for 12 hours.
  4. Beat the egg white with enough icing sugar for a thick, spreadable icing and spread a thin layer over the paste.
  5. Cut into almond shapes with a small cutter and let the icing dry for 12 hours before storing in a tin.

Tip from the editors. Candied melon is the flavour that makes it a calisson; if you cannot find it, candied apricot is the closest stand-in.

Where to eat calisson

Calisson in Avignon

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Avignon. See where to eat Calisson in Avignon or the Avignon signature dishes guide.

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