Calisson d'Aix — Aix-en-Provence, France
Aix-en-Provence, France
0
The calisson was born in Aix-en-Provence — legend has it appearing at the wedding of King René in 1454, to bring a smile to Queen Jeanne — and it has remained the town's symbol. Its shape, a domed lozenge like a small boat, its wafer base and its white glaze have not changed. The town still celebrates its blessing every year in September.
The paste combines Provence almonds and candied melon, with a little candied orange peel, ground together then heated to bind. It is spread over sheets of wafer, glazed with royal icing and cut out with a mould. The result is soft, fragrant, and just faintly bitter from the almond.
Preparation
- 01
Finely blend the almonds, candied melon and candied orange. Add the icing sugar and orange blossom water, and heat for 5 minutes over low heat, stirring, to dry it out.
- 02
Spread the paste over the wafer sheets to a thickness of 1 cm. Leave to dry overnight.
- 03
Beat the egg white with the icing sugar into royal icing, and coat the paste with it.
- 04
Cut out lozenges with a mould, and place in a warm oven for 3 minutes to set the glaze.
Where this version sits
A single, final coordinate: Aix-en-Provence, France. Another version of the same dish, elsewhere, gets its own point.
Photo: Mathsci — CC BY-SA 3.0
