Calisson d'Aix — Aix-en-Provence, France

A calisson is a small confection built from a paste of ground almonds and candied fruit, set on a base of edible wafer and finished with a thin white icing, then cut into the lozenge shape by which it is best known. It is reported from Aix-en-Provence, where an account places its first appearance at a royal wedding in 1454, intended to please the bride; whatever the exact date, the town has kept the sweet as its own ever since, holding a yearly blessing of the calisson each September. Almonds, candied melon and a little candied orange peel are ground together, then mixed with icing sugar and orange blossom water and warmed gently to dry the paste to a workable thickness. It is spread over sheets of wafer and left overnight to firm up, then coated with a royal icing made from beaten egg white and icing sugar. Once the icing has set, the lozenges are cut out with a mould and given a brief pass in a low oven to fix the glaze. What distinguishes the calisson among almond confections is this pairing of a fruit paste with an edible wafer base and a hard white icing rather than a chocolate or sugar coating, giving a texture that stays soft and dense inside a thin, brittle shell, with a faint bitterness from the almond running through the sweetness of the fruit.