The bakery classic Gluten Free Italian Rainbow Cookies combines delicate layers of almond sponge cake with sweet raspberry preserves all sandwiched between decadent chocolate ganache.
Preheat the oven to 350 ℉. Lightly grease three 13x9 pans.
Next place the almond paste into a bowl and use a fork to break it up. After that add the egg yolks, butter, sugar, and almond extract and beat on medium high until it’s light and fluffy, about five minutes.
Next slowly beat in the flour and salt until just combined.
Add the egg whites to a separate bowl. Beat on medium high until it forms stiff peaks. This means the egg whites will hold their shape and they’ll also be glossy.
Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Next, divide the batter into three equal portions. Carefully mix in green food coloring into one bowl. Add the red food coloring to another portion of the batter and carefully mix. Leave the third plain.
Spread the batter into the three prepared cake pans. Allow the cakes to bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden.
Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Next heat up the raspberry preserves in the microwave until loosened up, about 20 seconds.
Then line a large baking trap with wax paper. Place the green cake onto the tray.
Next spread half of the preserves onto the cake. Stack the white layer on top and then spread the remaining preserves over the white cake.
Finally stack the red layer on top. Tightly wrap the cake with plastic wrap. Allow the cake to refrigerate on the tray overnight with books on top to weight it down. You can also use another baking sheet.
Assembly
Remove the tray from the refrigerator. Unwrap the cake and trim off the edges to make it even in shape and color.
Place five ounces of chocolate and one teaspoon of the coconut oil in the microwave and heat in 30 second increments, stirring between each until melted. Once the chocolate has melted, spread it across the top of the red cake.
Next place the cake back into the refrigerator for at least fifteen minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.
Then remove the tray and invert it onto another tray. The green side should now be face up.
Repeat the process of melting the chocolate and coconut oil. Spread the melted chocolate across the top.
Place the cake back into the refrigerator and allow it to refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Finally, use a sharp knife to slice the cake into 1” bars.
Notes
Top Tips:
Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This will allow everything to mix together evenly.
Don’t over-beat the egg whites. As soon as they hold their shape and become glossy, meaning if you pull the mixer up it forms peaks and keeps its shape, you are there. This is called stiff peaks.
Feel free to swap the raspberry preserves in this recipe for apricot. Apricot is also another traditional flavor.
While red, white, and green is the classic colors of Italian rainbow cookies, you can make these your favorite colors such as red, white, and blue, or the colors of your favorite sports teams.
You can line the baking sheets with parchment paper if desired. This will make it easier to remove the cakes from the pan.
Nutrition: Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation. The owner of this site is not responsible for nutrition facts.