Many years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Austria and I fell in love with these HUGE almond paste bars that were dipped in dark chocolate. The airport personnel must have thought I was crazy when I came back with a suitcase filled with assorted chocolates. After tasting so many different flavor combinations, I found that the dark chocolate and almond combination was the most memorable because it went so well together.
Upon my return, I began experimenting with almond cakes using almond paste, because of its intense flavor profile and lovely, dense texture that it lends to baked goods. I slowly developed this recipe over time, and would bake in a regular cake pan that I would then split and fill with assorted fillings. It was always a great hit. During that time, I was running a Pastry Shop called Premier Pastries, and wanted to come up with unique ideas for mini pastries. I visited some pastry shops in Washington DC for inspiration, and came back with the idea of baking separate layers using different colored batter and then filling it with either apricot or raspberry jam. I found that the raspberry was a natural flavor combination with the almond and the dark chocolate, so I stuck with that. Needless to say, they were always popular and quickly became one of my favorite desserts. It was only recently that I discovered that these bars are actually had a name and were quite famous in NYC! I had no idea that they were such a well known treat. My revelation occurred after reading a few blogs that had similar recipes and called them Rainbow Cookies. Since then, I have tried to do some research to find out where these cookies originated, but so far have had no luck. Does anyone know the history of these treats?
This batter is enough for 6 parchment lined half sheet pans or 2-9” cakes and freezes beautifully if you don’t need it all right away. I also make a version of ‘opera torte’ using this same cake batter, but I fill the layers with a deeply flavored mocha buttercream and a rich chocolate ganache. They are actually very easy to make and you can serve them as individual sized portions, like I have here, or cut them into smaller individual mini pastries for a special event. The almond cake is so moist and delicious, and goes naturally well with the flavors of raspberry and chocolate. The red/green/natural colors seem to be most traditional for the rainbow bars, but you can use any color you prefer. I hope you have an opportunity to try them, they are truly delicious!
***An original recipe from www.goodfoodgourmet.com
Rainbow Cookie Bars
1 lb butter, softened
1 lb sugar
1 lb 4 oz almond paste
1 lb 4 oz eggs (about 11 eggs)
9 oz cake flour
1 cup simple syrup **optional
1 ½ c seedless raspberry jam
3 cup dark chocolate,melted
Red & green liquid food coloring
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the almond paste and sugar to a mixing bowl, and with the paddle attachment combine the mixture for about 10 minutes until there are no more visible lumps of almond paste. Next add the softened butter until well combined. Next add the eggs one at a time until all are incorporated. Gently add in the flour, a little at a time until this too is all incorporated. Divide this batter equally into 3. Color one bowl green and one bowl red, and leave the third one a natural color. It does not take too much dye to color the batter, only 2-3 drops. Mix the batter well so that there are no streaks. Each bowl of batter should make 2 half sheet pans, so you will have 6 half sheet pans altogether.
Next, you should line all 6 half sheet pans with parchment paper, and divide the batter into the pans. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter thinly and evenly in the pan. Bake each layer for about 8-10 minutes until it is just set and just starting to take on a little color on the surface. Bake the rest of the layers the same way and cool completely. Once cooled, take another half sheet pan and turn it upside down. Put a layer of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan…this is now your work area. Gently remove one of the green layers onto the parchment lined bottom and peel away the parchment sheet that has baked onto the cake batter. I usually soak each layer well with a simple syrup but it is not necessary. Add a small amount of seedless raspberry jam and spread thinly over the entire green layer. Do not put too much, because the bars will not slice well if there is too much jam. Repeat this process with the pink layer. Lastly add the neutral layer on top and cover the whole thing with plastic wrap. Now you must weigh it down and refrigerate it overnight, so that the cake sets together before you add the chocolate. Once you have covered the cake in plastic wrap, add another half sheet pan on top of it and weigh down the whole thing down with a heavy can or a heavy pot…then refrigerate the whole thing.
The next day, melt the chocolate in the microwave, and stir well to make sure there are no lumps. Add a small amount onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silpat, and use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate out thinly over the entire sheet. Remove the cake that has been refrigerated overnight, and while the chocolate is still melted, lay the stacked cake layers gently over the chocolate. Make sure that all of the cake is sitting on the chocolate, because this will give you the thin chocolate base on each side. If the large pieces of layered cake are too big for you to handle, feel free to cut them in half or in quarters and use what you need. This cake freezes beautifully, so feel free to cover and freeze what you do not need. Once the chocolate has set, trim away the extra chocolate around the edges and repeat again for the other side. Once this has completely chilled, use a large, thin blade knife dipped in hot water (and wiped) to slice the cake into bars or individual pastries. Cover and store in the refrigerator and serve chilled. They are truly delicious!
www.goodfoodgourmet.com
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