Italian Rainbow Cookies
I’m sure you’ve seen Italian rainbow cookies before, especially if you live in New York; they’re made up of three layers of tricolored almond flavored sponge cake (meant to look like the Italian flag) sandwiched with jam and covered in chocolate.
Equipment
- 1-3 9x13 baking sheet pan (cookie sheet)
Ingredients
- 8 oz almond paste
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp
- 4 eggs, seperated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- red and green food coloring, around 20 drops of each
- 1 1/2 cup raspberry or apricot jam, or half and half
- 12 oz dark chocolate, cut into pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Prep baking pan (or pans) by greasing pan, spreading with parchment paper, and greasing paper.
- Make the batter; combine almond paste, almond extract and ¾ cup of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium until crumbly, 3-5 minutes. Beat in butter a few pieces at a time until combined. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until smooth and creamy, 3 minutes.
- Mix flour and salt. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium speed, add flour to mixing bowl ⅓ at a time until well combined.
- In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites on medium high speed, adding 2 tablespoons of sugar slowly, until stiff peaks form, 10 minutes. Carefully fold ⅓ of the egg whites into the batter. Once fully incorporated, fold in the rest of the egg whites.
- Divide the batter into 3 equal bowls (I used a kitchen scale for this). Leave one portion uncolored. Add red food coloring to one bowl until desired shade of red is reached (around 20 drops). Do the same with the green food coloring in the third bowl.
- Bake the layers. Using an offset spatula, spread the green batter on the baking sheet, being sure to reach all the edges and get it as evenly spread as possible. If using 3 baking pans, repeat this process with the other two batches and bake together, rotating pans halfway through baking. If only using one pan, bake each layer, remove from pan and repeat process with a new sheet of parchment in the pan. Bake all layers until just firm and starting to brown around the edges, 9-10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
- Assemble the layers. Heat the jam over low heat until just warm, 3-4 minutes. Strain through sieve to remove seeds or bits of fruit. Carefully transfer green sponge cake back to the baking pan, using a spatula if needed to avoid breakage. Spread half the jam evenly over top of the green layer. Flip white layer onto cutting board and remove parchment, then carefully transfer to top of green layer and spread evenly with remaining jam. Invert red layer on top of the white (so the flat bottom will be on top).
- Wrap with plastic wrap and top with one of the other baking pans or a cutting board. Place several cans or heavy books on top to evenly weigh down layers. Refrigerate overnight.
- Remove plastic wrap and transfer to a wire rack over a baking sheet or a piece of parchment. Melt chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Pour melted chocolate over the whole large cookie and spread evenly. If you want, wait 15 minutes for chocolate to partially set and use a fork make a wave design on top. Put in the refrigerator and chill 30 minutes until chocolate is just set. Slice into even rectangles or squares. Keep cookies refrigerated.