Calissons are delicious French candies from Provence, where they originated in the town of Aix-en-Provence. Consisting of a smooth paste of almond and candied fruit topped with royal icing, they are enjoyed year-round, but are especially popular during the holiday season. While you can buy them online, they come in small boxes that can be quite pricey. Being able to make them yourself in the comfort of your home is a real value. It allows you to make as many as you want, and gift them for the holidays! Enjoy!
Finding the Calisson ingredients
For the calissons, you will need candied fruit, more specifically candied cantaloupe and candied orange. Luckily, candied fruit is popular in the US during the holiday season so it is easier to find during that time. Depending on where you live, you might be able to find candied fruit in your grocery store. If not, try an international grocery store or The Fresh Market, which is where I found mine. Otherwise, you can order them online (here for the cantaloupe, and here for the orange).
The top part of the calissons consist of royal icing, while the bottom part is wafer paper. You can purchase wafer paper online:
You could also substitute wafer paper with edible paper.
You will also need orange blossom water, which you can generally find in international grocery stores. You could also buy it online, or just substitute with plain water.
Utensils needed
Calissons are traditionally almond-shaped. While you can make the shape of an almond with a knife, it is easier to have a mold. I used a small oval cookie-cutter I had. Otherwise, you can purchase a calisson mold online:
You will also need a food processor.
Calisson Recipe
I have looked at multiple recipes for calissons, and have come up with my own recipe that I find is the easiest one to follow. Because the calissons need to air dry before you place the icing, I like to let the calissons dry overnight, and do the icing the next day.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Passive Time | 14 hours |
| Servings |
calissons
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- 4 oz. candied cantaloupe (110g)
- 1 oz. candied orange (30g)
- 5.3 oz. Almond Flour (150g)
- 3.2 oz. powdered sugar (90g)
- 1 big tablespoon Orange Blossom Water
- 1–2 sheets wafer paper
- 1/2 egg white
- 3.2 oz. powdered sugar (90g)
Ingredients
For the icing
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- Cut the candied fruit in little pieces. In a food processor, mix the candied fruit with 1 big tablespoon of orange blossom water.
- Add the almond flour and the powdered sugar. Mix again in the food processor on high speed, until you get a uniform paste. This should take about 5 minutes or so, depending on your food processor.
- Gather the paste in a ball and knead it with your hands to make sure that all ingredients are fully incorporated in the paste.
- Roll out the paste on parchment paper. Do not roll it out too much because you want a thickness of about 1/4 of an inch. This is the thickness of your candy.
- Place the wafer paper on top of the paste. With your mold, cut out almond/oval shapes in the paper and paste.
- Flip over the calissons so that the part with the wafer paper becomes the bottom part of the candy. Place your calissons in a dry place and let them dry overnight (about 10 hours or so).
- The next day, prepare the icing by mixing the powdered sugar and the egg white with a whisker.
- Spread the icing on top of the candies using a small butter knife or a small spatula. Let the icing dry. I personally like to put the calissons in the fridge for about 4 hours before eating them. They taste better cold. Enjoy!
Bon Appétit!
French Mom
