This delicious, soft, and colourful three-layered sponge cake is called Italian Rainbow Cookies due to its bite-size and shape.
About These Italian Rainbow Cookies
What are these beautiful Italian Rainbow Cookies?
Rainbow cookies typically contain layers of brightly coloured almond-based sponge cake (usually almost/marzipan), apricot and raspberry jam and chocolate coating.
Commonly called a "cookie," their composition is closer to a layered cake or petit four. The original rainbow cookie featured layers with colours representing the Italian flag: white, red and green. However, there may be variations in the colour of the rainbow cookie's layers, whether for particular holidays or other events.
Italian-American bakeries first introduced rainbow cookies in the late 19th or early 20th century, and they have since spread to other Italian-American and mainstream bakeries. Rainbow cookies are viral at Christmas.
Though many Italian bakeries have an almond paste or almond flour base, rainbow cookies are a decidedly Italian-American creation. While there is no direct analogue to rainbow cookies in Italy, Italian food historian Mary Taylor Simeti speculates that the Italian-American rainbow cookie is based on the tri-coloured gelato di campagna, a nougat with the same coloured layers. WIKIPEDIA.
Ingredients
- Almond paste, Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Vanilla and Almond extract, All-purpose Flour, Salt, Red and Green Food colouring, Apricot Jam, Raspberry Jam, and Semi-sweet chocolate.
How To Make These Cookies
- These cookies might look complex, but they are unbelievably easy to make. Italian Rainbow Cookies make a beautiful Christmas Cookie gift.
- We start with an almond sponge cake and divide the batter into three parts. Tint one portion of the batter into green, the second portion in red, and leave the third one plain.
- Spread each batter onto small baking sheets or brownie pans separately to make thin layers of sponge cake.
- Let the cake layers cool down, stack them on top of each other and brush warm apricot jam and raspberry jam to glue the layers together.
- Put a baking sheet on top of the stack and place heavy items or weights, such as fruit cans, to press the layers and attach them. Leave the cake in the fridge overnight.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on the double boiler, and once you make sure the cakes are attached, pour the warm chocolate over the cake and, using a small spatula, make some swirls on the chocolate. Cut the cake into small squares and enjoy.
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📖 Recipe
Italian Rainbow Cookies
Ingredients
For The Sponge Cake
- 8 ounce Almond Paste
- 1 cup Granulated sugar, Divided into ¾ cup and ¼ cup
- 1¼ cup Butter, Room temperature
- 4 Eggs, Separated
- 1 teaspoon Almond extract
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2¾ cup All-purpose flour, Spooned and levelled
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Green food colour
- ½ teaspoon Red food colour
For Attaching The Layers
- ⅓ cup Apricot jam
- ⅓ cup Raspberry jam
For Topping
- 1¼ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
How To Make The Sponge Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉, grease and line three 13X9 baking sheets. Leave some parchment paper from the sides to lift.
- Chop the almond paste into pieces and blitz it in the food processor with ¾ cup of the granulated sugar. The mixture should look like wet sand.8 ounce Almond Paste, 1 cup Granulated sugar
- Transfer the mixture to the stand mixer bowl or a mixing bowl. Add the butter and whisk until well blended.1¼ cup Butter
- Add the yolks, almond and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until it is pale and flyffy.4 Eggs, 1 teaspoon Almond extract, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Sift the flour and salt together, add to the above mixture and gently mix.2¾ cup All-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon Salt
- In a separate clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until it becomes foamy, then gradually add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and keep whisking until the mixture becomes glossy and stif peaks form.
- Add ⅓ of the egg white mixture to the butter and flour mixture and gently fold. Add the remaining of the egg white and mix very gently. Try not to deflate the mixture.
- Divide the batter into three equal parts. Add the green food colour to one and the red colour to the other portion. Leave one portion plain. I recommend using the kitchen scale to weigh the batter to ensure you have three equal portions.½ teaspoon Green food colour, ½ teaspoon Red food colour
- Spread the batter in the prepared trays and use an offset spatula to smooth out the surface of the batter and ensure the batter is spread evenly.
- Bake them for 10-12 minutes or until the top is not shiny and the edges start to turn gold.
- Let the sponges cool down in the tray, then lift the parchment paper and transfer them to the cooling rack to cool down completely.
- In the meantime, warm up the apricot and raspberry jam to make them more liquid and spreadable.⅓ cup Apricot jam, ⅓ cup Raspberry jam
- Put the green or red sponge on a baking sheet and brush the entire surface with the apricot jam. Place the plain sponge on top and brush its surface with the raspberry jam.
- Cover the surface of the top layer with a piece of parchment paper and place another baking sheet on top. Put a few heavy items, such as cans of food, on the top baking sheet. This pressure will adhere the layers together.
- Place the sponges in the fridge for at least three hours or overnight.
- Place the cake layers on a cutting board and trim the edges to make a clean, large square.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 20-minute intervals and stir after each time. Make sure the chocolate is melted and smooth.1¼ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Pour the warm chocolate over the sponge and spread it with an offset spatula. Let the chocolate set for a few minutes, then cut the sponge into small squares.
Ben says
Very easy to fallow recipe
Thank you .
Arezou Bahador says
Thank you, Ben!