The Calisson

Bring water to the boil in a saucepan, then pour in the almonds.
Turn off the heat and leave the almonds in the boiling water for two minutes to rehydrate. Drain.

PREPARING THE MIXTURE

Cut the confit fruit into small pieces. Mix with the almonds.
Add a few drops of bitter almond flavoring to the resulting paste (= the mixture). Place the dough in a mixing bowl.

SUGAR SYRUP

In a saucepan, moisten the sugar: add a little water to cover all the sugar, and using a cooking thermometer, allow the temperature to rise to between 125 and 130°C.

CALISSON DOUGH

Stir in the cooked sugar. Mix everything together, while hot if possible, to form a paste. Leave the calisson dough to rest at room temperature for three hours.

SHAPING

Roll out the dough with the palm of your hand or a rolling pin to a height of about 8 mm.
Using a diamond-shaped cookie cutter, shape the calissons. Gently remove the dough and reshape the tips and body of the calisson by hand.

ICING – ROYAL ICING

Beat the egg whites with the powdered sugar until smooth, the mixture should be fairly soft.
Leave the royal icing to firm up for one hour at room temperature (it should not crust, but only firm up, otherwise it will break).

FINISH

Take a calisson delicately between your fingers. Dip the smoothest side into the royal icing, marking the edges and tips to cover the entire surface. Then carefully remove the calisson, removing the excess royal icing a little at a time.
Wipe the edges. Do not dip the calisson into the royal icing a second time (the result will be too thick). Bake for around seven minutes in a convection oven at 100°C. The glaze should be set. Leave to cool.