RWO extrapolated from data available...

>
> The Bay of Abu Qir, Egypt, between the Rosetta mouth of the Nile and
> Alexandria, is where the English defeated a French fleet in August
> 1798.
>
> There is a cake (bombe) which has chestnut cream in it, named Aboukir,
> and there is a petit-four made with almond paste and whole almonds,
> also named Aboukir.

Were I guessing (in an educated fashion), I would ascribe the cake to the
fairly common Georgian tradition of naming dishes "featured" at celebratory
dinners for heroes, victories and the like Given the loss by magazine
explosion of the French flagship at Aboukir, a "bombe" seems particulary
fitting type dessert for connection to the naval engagement. Menu items
like this showed up at Lord Mayor's dinners honoring heroes and the like,
and certainly "fit" the tone and tenor of the times.

The almond paste/almond petit four seems more likely a connection between
the substantial almond crop in the area, and the Larouuse entry may well be
the confirming evidence. Aboukir was never much if any of a port, and all
trade in the region flowed through Alex.

>
> Any solid proof of a connection between the name of the place and the
> name of the two desserts. My Larousse Gastronomique mentions Aboukir
> Almonds but gives no background on the name; Alan Davidson is silent
> on the topic (in The Penguin Companion to Food). No mention that I can
> see in "A Culinary History of Food" (Flandrin et Montanari).

TMO