1,459 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Calissons

Calissons are a sweet from Provence - Aix-en-Provence is famous for them - made with almonds and candied fruit, covered with royal icing. This is a slightly simplified version, which is every bit as good.

139 K 5× 3.8/5 (13 reviews)

1 hour 30 min. difficulté

Easy

5.85 €

40 Calissons

6 Ingredients

Last modified on: February 12^th 2012

For 40 Calissons, you will need:

1 ½ cup Candied grapefruit peel
2 2 cups ground almonds
3 ¾ cup icing sugar
4 2 egg whites
5 2 sheets of rice (wafer) paper
6 1 cup Royal icing

Change these quantities to make:

10 Calissons 20 Calissons 40 Calissons 60 Calissons

Change measures:

Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 1 hour 30 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 5 min.

Chop ½ cup Candied grapefruit peel using food processor to produce small pieces of peel.

Stage 2 - 2 min.

Stop the processor, then add 2 cups ground almonds and ¾ cup icing sugar.

Stage 3 - 3 min.

Switch on again and add the egg white a spoonful at a time until you have a smooth paste - calisson paste.

Stage 4 - 2 min.

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...).

Stage 5 - 1 min.

Place a sheet of cooking parchment on top of the paste.

Stage 6 - 5 min.

Roll out the paste, guided by the rules either side, into a very even sheet.

Stage 7 - 15 min.

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.

Stage 8 - 15 min.

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.

Stage 9 - 10 min.

Prepare 1 cup Royal icing.

Stage 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.

Stage 11 - 30 min.

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.

Stage 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.

Keeping: 2 or 3 weeks in an airtight tin.

Source: Home made. This recipe is dedicated to my grandmother Solange, who introduced me to the calissons of Aix.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	50 RDI=20 %	1,020 RDI=100 %	110 RDI=20 %	2,890 RDI=140 %	12,100 RDI: 140 %
Per 100 g	6 RDI=3 %	130 RDI=10 %	10 RDI=2 %	370 RDI=20 %	1,560 RDI: 20 %
Per piece	1 RDI=0 %	30 RDI=2 %	2 RDI=0 %	70 RDI=4 %	300 RDI: 4 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

Possible allergens in this recipe: Nuts, Egg

How much will it cost?

For 40 Calissons : 11.65 €
Per Calissons : 0.30 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

Royal icing

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example:

Other recipes you may also like

Nanou's chocolate cake

A moist melting cake, very very chocolaty...
June 22^th 2013277 K4.6 1 hour 45 min.

Exotic fruit tart

An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests.
May 27^th 2020314 K5 2 hours 25 min.

Soft fruits in sabayon

This recipe is made by briefly cooking an assortment of soft fruits (raspberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries, currants...) with a little sugar to glaze them. They are served in a small dish, covered with a delicious sabayon which can be lightly "burned" on surface.
February 21^th 2011263 K3.9 50 min.

Finger biscuits

These small biscuits, that look a bit like savoy biscuits, are delicious alone or with Champagne, but are also the base for charlottes or Tiramisu.
July 30^th 2021337 K5 50 min.

Old style brioche

Classical version of brioche use yeast to raise the dough, but in this recipe some leaven is added. This make a more rustic brioche, with a small taste of leaven.
December 19^th 2014299 K4.6 14 hours 6 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

The 5 comments already posted on this recipe

Thank you jh
Posted by Buckaroo september 24^th 2017 at 14:57 n° 5
This is not exactly the same rice paper like the one used in spring rolls or nems, it's a bit thicker.
In France it's call "azym paper" (try to google that around you).
Anyway if you cant's find this special one, traditional rice paper is a good second option.
Posted by jh september 18^th 2017 at 09:47 n° 4
Where do you get square rice paper? Or can you use the more available round, that are use for spring rolls? Or is this something different?

Posted by Buckaroo september 17^th 2017 at 15:43 n° 3
About 60 g.
Posted by jh january 14^th 2013 at 17:53 n° 2
How many grams of grapefruit peel will you get from one grapefruit?
Posted by bob january 14^th 2013 at 00:08 n° 1

Follow this recipe

If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.