Frangipane

(1) A rich French pastry made with eggs yolks, flour, butter and milk that is very similar to choux pastry. (2) A ground almond cream filling or topping most often used for cakes, pastries or other sweets. This filling is also called frangipani. The history of frangipane is traced to a 16th-century Italian nobleman, Marquis Muzio Frangipani, who introduced almond perfume-scented gloves that were all the rage. Pastry chefs tried to capture this popular scent in desserts; hence the birth of frangipane. Later, when the perfume was added to an almond cream dessert, the resulting delicacy was also dubbed frangipane.