The Marzaban was a light wooden box with a lid that was used for various uses, such as hidden the mails or more frequently used to send cakes prepared with flour, almond paste, and other ingredients, which inherited the name, marzapane because of their shape.  In Palermo the sisters of the convent annexed to the Church of Saint Mary of Admiral, or St Nicolò of the Greeks (known as the Martorana) prepared sweets.

In 1993 it was the nobleman Eloisia Martorana who built a Benedictine monastery next to the church and the convent. Since then, the entire building has been named "the marorana" in her honor, and in the same way, they have been called the sweets prepared by the sisters.