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Rainbow cookies with raspberry and apricot jam
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Italian Rainbow Cookies

A tri-coloured sponge cookie with homemade almond paste, layered with both raspberry and apricot jams and spread with melted chocolate.
Course Cookie
Cuisine Italian
Keyword Italian Rainbow cookies
Servings 5 dozen
Author Marisa

Ingredients

ALMOND PASTE

  • 1 1/4 cup blanched almonds To blanch your own see note below
  • 1 1/4 cup icing sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 3 tablespoons water

CAKE LAYERS

  • 1 1/4 cups almond paste
  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs separated
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 10-12 drops red food colouring
  • 10-12 drops green food colouring
  • 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
  • 1/2 cup apricot jam
  • 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • chocolate sprinkles of your choice

Instructions

ALMOND PASTE

  • Place the almonds and 1/4 cup of the icing sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture has the appearance of coarse sand.
  • Add in the remaining sugar and pulse until the mixture is very fine.
  • Add the almond extract and water then pulse again until thoroughly combined. Set aside. 

CAKE LAYERS

  • Butter three, 13 inch by 9 inch baking pans. Line the pans with parchment paper and grease the paper.
  • Preheat oven to 350*F
  • In a large bowl, cream together the almond paste, butter, sugar and egg yolks until fluffy and smooth. 
  • Stir in the flour.
  • In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg whites (with clean beaters) until soft peaks form. 
  • Fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter until it is thoroughly blended.
  • Divide the cake batter equally among three small bowls. 
  • Colour one portion with the red food colouring and one with the green and leave the third portion uncoloured. 
  • Spread each portion of cake batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
  • Bake in preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes, until the edges are a light golden brown.
  • Transfer the pans on a cooling rack.
  • Once cooled, invert the green layer onto a cookie sheet and peel off the parchment paper. Spread the raspberry jam evenly all over.  
  • Top with the uncoloured layer and spread evenly with the apricot jam. 
  • Top with the pink layer and cover with saran wrap or cling wrap.
  • Set a cookie sheet on top to compress the layers together. Refrigerate overnight.
  • The next day, melt the chocolate in the microwave, in 15 second intervals until melted. Spread the melted chocolate over the pink layer and top with sprinkles of your choice.
  • Set aside and allow the chocolate to harden.
  • Once the chocolate is set, trim off the edges with a sharp knife.
  • When ready to serve, cut 1/2 inch strips across the width and then each strip into 4 pieces. Store in airtight container and keep refrigerated.

Notes

How to make homemade blanched almonds:
Place the almonds in a pot of boiling water and allow to simmer for about 60 to 70 seconds. The almonds will start to rise and bob on the surface. The skin will have a shrivelled up appearance.
Drain the almonds and run under cold water then pat dry with a clean dish towel.
One at a time, gently press on the almond between your thumb and index finger to release the nut from its skin.
Allow the blanched almonds to dry at room temperature, on a clean dish towel, before proceeding with the recipe. This can also be done overnight.
If you're pressed for time you can dry the almonds in a low heated oven for 5 minutes or so.