Shelly's Recipe

ITALIAN LAYER COOKIES

Category: Cookies

These are also called Venetians, Rainbow Cookies, and 7 Layer Cookies.
1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 to 8 drops red food coloring
6 to 8 drops green food coloring
1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot jam
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Grease the bottoms of three matching 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with waxed paper; grease the paper.

Place almond paste in a large bowl; break up with a fork. Cream with butter, sugar and egg yolks until light, fluffy and smooth. Stir in flour. In another bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into dough, mixing until thoroughly blended.

Divide dough into three portions (about 1-⅓ cups each). Color one portion with red food coloring and one with green; leave the remaining portion uncolored. Spread each portion into the prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.

Invert onto wire racks; remove waxed paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over. Cool completely.

Place green layer on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread evenly with raspberry jam. Top with uncolored layer and spread with apricot jam. Top with pink layer. Bring plastic wrap over layers. Slide onto a baking sheet and set a cutting board or heavy, flat pan on top to compress layers. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day, melt chocolate in a double boiler. Spread over top layer; allow to harden. With a sharp knife, trim edges. Cut into ½-in. strips across the width; then cut each strip into 4-5 pieces. Store in airtight containers. Yield: about 8 dozen.

NOTES:
•Use more food coloring than specified in the recipe. I used about 1/3 of my bottles of red and green. This makes them so very vibrant and festive, and it is a traditional Italian Christmas Cookie.

•I suggest freezing the layers after the chocolate had been applied and allowed to set. This will make cutting them into pieces much easier and the chocolate will not smear across the beautiful layers.