The coussin de Lyon, a speciality of the city, is a cushion-shaped square of marzipan, coloured green, and filled with Curacao-flavoured chocolate ganache. Sold individually, or in a lovely velvety box, this delicious sweet treat can be enjoyed throughout the day, or with a little cup of coffee in the afternoon.
Maison Voisin, a Lyon chocolate business, produced this sweet at the beginning of the 1960s, in an attempt to revive a legend. In 1643, following an epidemic of plague, the aldermen of Lyon decided to organise a procession to Fourvière to beg the Virgin Mary to spare the city. They brought an altar candle and a gold coin as offerings, on a silk cushion. The coussin de Lyon tries to remind people of this cushion.