nonnettes

Made with rye flour, honey and spices in a recipe similar to pain d’épices, nonnettes were first baked by the nuns in Dijon in the Middle Ages. They often have a filling of marmelade, and are covered with a sugary lemon or chocolate glaze and tend to be very sticky. Many people make them for Christmas.

They also make them in Remiremont in the Vosges, where they were known as the Nonnettes des Chanoinesses and were much appreciated in the 18th century by Stanislas Leszczynski, King of Poland and Duc de Lorraine. The same cake-loving Chanoinesses were behind Remiremont’s loriquettes.