Frangipane

Frangipane

A chocolate tart with frangipane filling as the middle layer
Type	Custard
Main ingredients	Almonds or almond flavouring, butter, sugar, eggs

Frangipane (/ˈfrændʒᵻˌpæn, -ˌpeɪn/) is a filling made from or flavored with almonds. Frangipani Italian pronunciation: [ˌfrandʒiˈpaːni] is derived from frangere il pane (Italian for "that breaks the bread"). This filling can be used in a variety of ways including cakes and such pastries as the Bakewell tart, Conversation tart, Jesuite and Pithivier. A French spelling from a 1674 cookbook is franchipane with the earliest modern spelling coming from a 1732 confectioners' dictionary. Originally designated as a custard tart flavored by almonds or pistachios it came later to designate a filling that could be used in a variety of confections and baked goods. Frangipane is one of France's many traditional foods associated with Christmas celebration.

Today it is normally made of butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds.

In some anecdotes it was the kind of sweet that the noblewoman Jacopa da Settesoli brought to St. Francis of Assisi in 1226, when he was dying.