The marzipan from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat

This little golden cake is made with eggs whites, sugar and almonds powder.

The current recipe was created in 1899, by a baker from Saint-Léonard, Camille PetitJean, based on an old medieval recipe.

The massepain name ("marzipan") comes from massa ("pastry") and panis ("bread"): Italians call it marzapane and Germans marzipan.

Anyway, the marzipan was a pretty special sweet, in the Middle-Ages, made for rich people only.

They made it with almonds, nuts, pine kernels, pistachios and sugar.

Olivier de Serres, in his book Théâtre d’agriculture, book I, chapter 8, talked about a "marzipan pie", made with almonds flavoured with rose water.

The recipe from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat comes from Compostela’s pilgrims. A pretty old recipe!