What is "frangipane"

Frangipane \Fran"gi*pane\, n. [F. frangipane; supposed to be called so from the inventor, the Marquis Frangipani, major general under Louis XIV.]

1. A perfume of jasmine; frangipani.

2. A species of pastry, containing cream and almonds.

n. 1 (context uncountable English) A cream made from ground almonds used in confectionery 2 (context countable English) A pastry filled with this cream

n. pastry with a creamy almond-flavored filling

Frangipane is a filling made from or flavored with almonds. Frangipane/frangipani 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.

On Epiphany, the French cut the King Cake, a round cake made of frangipane layers into slices to be distributed by a child known as le petit roi (the little king) who is usually hiding under the dining table. The cake is decorated with stars, a crown, flowers and a special bean hidden inside the cake. Whoever gets the piece of the frangipane cake with the bean is crowned “king” or “queen” for the following year.