Rainbow Cookies

Walk into any Italian-American bakery around Christmas and you’ll see these: three thin, tender cake layers tinted the colors of the Italian flag, bound with jam, coated in chocolate, and sliced into jewel-like rectangles. They go by many names (rainbow cookies, seven-layer cookies, Italian flag cookies, tri-colors) but the structure is always the same.

The soul of the dough is almond paste, broken up and beaten with butter and sugar until creamy. Whipped egg whites folded in at the end give the thin sponge layers their tender, slightly chewy texture. Divide the batter three ways, tint with red, green, and yellow food coloring, and bake each in its own 13×9 pan.

Once cooled, the layers stack with raspberry jam between them (traditionally apricot or raspberry) and press overnight under weight so everything compacts into a solid block. Chocolate coats both sides, then you chill, slice, and eat too many.

This is multi-day work. Start at least a day ahead.

Pro Tips

• Use real almond paste, not marzipan. Marzipan is sweeter and softer and won’t give the right texture.
• Weight the stacked layers overnight with a heavy book on top; compression is what makes the bite structural.
• Thin the melted chocolate with a drop of oil or shortening for a smooth, shiny coating.
• Slice with a hot dry knife for clean edges through the chocolate.

Variations

• Swap apricot jam for raspberry for a more traditional Italian filling.
• Use white chocolate for the coating for a softer flavor.
• Add finely chopped pistachios to the chocolate coating before it sets for crunch.