Calissons

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 20 Calissons, you will need:

• 1 50 g candied grapefruit peel
• 2 100 g ground almonds
• 3 80 g icing sugar
• 4 1 egg white
• 5 1 sheet of rice (wafer) paper
• 6 125 g royal icing
• Total weight: 390 grams

Times:

Preparation
1 hour 30 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1: Chop 50 g candied grapefruit peel using food processor to produce small pieces of peel.
• 2: Stop the processor, then add 100 g ground almonds and 80 g icing sugar.
• 3: Switch on again and add the egg white a spoonful at a time until you have a smooth paste - calisson paste.
• 4: Spread the calisson paste out roughly on a sheet of rice paper laid on a chopping board.
  Put the paste between two rulers 1cm (0.4 inch) thick, simple iron bars in this case, but use anything you like (wood, plastic...).
• 5: Place a sheet of cooking parchment on top of the paste.
• 6: Roll out the paste, guided by the rules either side, into a very even sheet.
• 7: Cut out the calissons with a cutter, pressing down really hard (I give a light hammer blow on the top) so that you also cut through the rice paper underneath.
• 8: Gather all the offcuts of paste, roll out again on the remaining piece of rice paper and cut out more.
  Continue unti you have used up all the calisson paste.
• 9: Prepare 125 g royal icing.
• 10: Dip the top of the calisson (the side without rice paper) in royal icing. You can stick it on a fork to make this easier, but this isn't essential.
• 11: Wipe off any excess icing on the sides with your finger and place the calisson on a baking sheet.
  You will notice how, after a few seconds, the royal icing becomes smooth once the calisson is laid flat.
  Do this with all the calissons.
• 12: Leave to dry exposed to the air for 2 days, until the royal icing turns hard.
  Your calissons are ready.

Remarks

Traditional calissons normally contain candied melon and orange.
If you are in a hurry, rather than waiting for 2 days, you can dry the calissons in a cool oven at 50°C (122°F) until the royal icing forms a crust.

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