Traditional European Baked Items with Almonds as the Star

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TOPIC FOUR: TRADITIONAL EUROPEAN BAKED ITEMS WITH ALMONDS AS THE STAR

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, you should be able to …

Understand how almonds are used in traditional European baked goods
Recognize the history that almonds played in the bakeries of Europe
Explore ways to give a new, contemporary “twist” to traditional almond-based recipes
Identify some of the most iconic baked goods that contain almonds

Key Terms

marzipan Princess Cake bear claws Swedish almond tart Stollen almond babkas

Swiss almond macaroons Paris-Brest Montelimar florentines financiers

Pithiviers amaretti almond meal almond flour slivered toasted natural

blanched almond butter

Lecture and Discussion Topics

A history of almonds in Europe
Iconic European almond pastries

Almonds

Introduction

Versatility, Forms, and Storage

Almonds in Healthy Baking

Almond Flavor Dynamics

Traditional European Baked Items

Almond Videos: Pastry Chef Cloe Hodgman’s Favorite Recipes

Bakery Tourism: Visiting the World’s Most Beloved Bakeries

Recipes

Videos

Program Presented by

A little history…

Archaeological finds place domesticated almonds in the eastern Mediterranean by the Early Bronze Age, with nuts even discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun, meant to nourish the king in the afterlife.

Almond trees spread from the eastern Mediterranean into Greece, Rome, and then across much of Europe, thriving particularly in Mediterranean climates such as Spain and Italy. By the Middle Ages, almonds had become a staple in European kitchens, where they appeared in both savory and sweet dishes and were especially prominent in confectionery.

They were used not only for flavor and texture, but also as a prestige ingredient, a meat-dairy substitute in religious fasting seasons, and a base for iconic preparations like marzipan, frangipane, and almond-based festival cakes. While there are more recorded historic almond recipes from monastic and aristocratic kitchens, we know they were also enjoyed by the peasant classes as well. Almonds were valued for their nutritional density and long-keeping quality, making them important in an era without refrigeration and for travelers or pilgrims.

Role in religious and festive cooking

Religious fasting rules (especially during Lent, Advent, and other holy days) significantly boosted the role of almonds in medieval and early modern European cookery, when Christians were banned from eating meat and dairy. Almond milk and almond paste functioned as stand-ins for dairy and as rich bases for sweets that complied with fasting restrictions.

Almond milk appears frequently in medieval European recipes as a replacement for animal milk in puddings, porridges, and sauces, many of which blurred the line between a savory and sweet dish.
Festivities like Christmas and fairs saw the rise of sugar-and-almond confections; roasted sugared almonds became a common fairground and holiday treat in German-speaking regions by the 17th century.

Marzipan and frangipane

In European patisserie, the use of marzipan and frangipane are ubiquitous throughout bakeries and pastry shops. Let’s briefly explore the differences between them, as well as their history.

Marzipan is a soft, sweet, and pliable confection made primarily from finely ground almonds and sugar. Some historians trace early marzipan to ancient Persia, documented by physicians like al-Razi in the 9th century as a medicinal treat. It became an essential European confectionery component in the Middle Ages, particularly in Spain and later in central and northern Europe for molded sweets and cake decorations.
Frangipane is a sweet, creamy almond custard or filling used in French pastries, made from ground almonds, butter, sugar, and eggs. Frangipane is tied to early modern French and Italian courtly kitchens. One popular theory tells us that frangipane originated in the 1600s, named after the Italian nobleman Marquis Muzio Frangipani. His family worked as perfumers to King Louis XIII and created a bitter almond-scented perfume for gloves. This inspired French pastry chefs to create a similarly fragrant almond dessert filling.

Iconic Almond Pastries & Desserts

From festive holiday almond cakes to the everyday ritual of almond biscotti with coffee, almond-based pastries are a cornerstone of European life. These iconic treats are deeply rooted in regional tradition. Let’s explore some of Europe’s most beloved almond sweets.

Almond cakes and tortes

Tarta de Santiago (Spain): A dense, flourless Galician cake made primarily from ground almonds, sugar, and eggs, traditionally marked with the Cross of Saint James and associated with the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

Almond tortes (Central Europe): Various Austrian and German tortes use ground almonds in the sponge or in rich layers with buttercreams or chocolate glazes, where almonds contribute both structure and flavor.

Financiers (France): A financier is a small French almond cake with a delicate, moist interior and a crisp, golden-brown crust. Traditionally baked in small, rectangular molds to resemble gold bars, these almond cakes were popularized in 19th-century Paris’s financial district.

Almond-filled pastries

Pithiviers (France): This classic French puff pastry pie originates from Pithiviers in north-central France and features two layers of flaky pastry filled with a rich, almond cream.

Frangipane tarts (France/Italy): Tart shells filled with an almond cream and often topped with fruit such as pears, apricots, or cherries, now a mainstay of French-style patisseries.

Banket or banketstaaf (Netherlands): Puff pastry logs filled with sweet almond paste, sliced into rich, flaky pieces, especially popular around Sinterklaas and Christmas.

Stollen or Christstollen (Germany): This traditional German Christmas bread is filled with a cylinder of marzipan and packed with rum-soaked dried fruits, candied citrus peels, nuts, and spices.

Almond swirl pastries (Across Europe): Modern bakery staples like almond “swirls” or “snails” use laminated dough with frangipane filling and sliced almonds on top, drawing from older frangipane traditions.

Almond Babkas (Eastern Europe): Almond babka is a sweet, braided bread or pastry originating from Eastern European Jewish cuisine, featuring soft, enriched brioche dough swirled with a rich almond paste or frangipane filling.

Paris-Brest (France): This classic French pastry was created in 1910 to honor the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, and formed to resemble a bicycle wheel. It consists of wheel-shaped choux pastry filled with praline cream (mousseline) and topped with sliced almonds.

Almond cookies and small pastries

Ricciarelli and other almond cakes (Italy): Soft, almond‑rich Sienese biscuits and cakes made with almond flour or paste, sugar, and egg whites, sometimes flavored with amaretti and dusted heavily with powdered sugar are enjoyed during the Christmas season.

Amaretti and paste di mandorla (Italy & Malta): Chewy or crisp almond cookies made from almond flour or paste, sugar, and egg whites, found throughout Italy (especially Sicily) and in Maltese versions such as biskuttini tal-lewz.

Macarons (France): Contemporary Parisian macarons use finely ground almonds as the base for the meringue shells, creating the characteristic chew and structure that define the style.

Swiss almond macaroon (Switzerland): These chewy, gluten-free cookies are made from almond paste, egg whites, sugar, and often lemon zest, featuring a cracked, powdered sugar-dusted surface. Unlike delicate French macarons, these cookies are rustic, dense.

Pignoli cookies (Italy): Small, intensely almondy cookies made from almond paste and egg whites, rolled in pine nuts and baked; often sold alongside amaretti in Italian bakeries.

Almond Florentines (Italy): These thin, delicate, and crispy caramelized cookies made primarily with sliced almonds, honey or sugar, butter, and often citrus zest or candied fruit may have originated in Florence. Frequently referred to as “lace cookies” due to their dainty, lace-like appearance, they are typically baked until golden and dipped in dark chocolate.

Biscotti (Italy): Twice-baked almond biscotti, with roots in Roman “biscoctus,” became an important provision for Roman soldiers and later medieval sailors because they were dry, energy-dense, and shelf-stable; Tuscan bakers later refined them with almond extract and whole almonds.

Marzipan confections and decorations

Marzipan fruits and figures (Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Central Europe): Shaped almond-sugar pastes colored and modeled into fruits, animals, or seasonal figures, sold especially at Christmas and regional fairs.

Prinsesstårta or Princess Cake (Sweden): Princess cake features layers of sponge cake, vanilla custard, whipped cream, and raspberry or strawberry jam, covered in green marzipan.

Mazarin (Sweden): These Swedish almond tarts are small buttery shortcrust pastry shells filled with a rich, moist almond filling (often marzipan-based) and finished with a thin, white sugar glaze. They are a staple of Swedish fika, or coffee break.

Sugared and roasted almond specialties

Candied/roasted almonds (German-speaking Europe): Caramelized or sugar‑coated almonds sold at Christmas markets and fairs, sometimes incorporated into nougats and brittle-like confections that sit alongside baked goods.

Torrone / turrón (Italy and Spain): While technically nougats rather than “baked” items, these honey, sugar, and nut‑based confections using almonds share the same retail space and festive function as traditional pastries in many European shops.

Nougat Montelimar (France): Nougat de Montélimar is a French confection from Montélimar in Provence with a chewy, soft white texture made from honey, egg whites, sugar, and almonds.

Koufeta (Greece): These traditional Greek sugar-coated almonds are given as favors at celebrations like weddings and baptisms, and symbolize the bittersweet nature of life, as well as health, wealth, and happiness.