These little rectangles are a little 3 layer almond paste cake cookie, they are absolutely to die for! Each layer is colored to resemble the Italian flag once sliced. I recently found out that they were created by Italian American Immigrants, not in Italy. I grew up calling them 7 layers; however, they are also called Italian Rainbow Cookies (Dolcini Tre Colori).
They are most popular at Christmas time, but growing up we would get them at the Italian Bakeries in Brooklyn year-round. It was always a treat going to visit my Grandparents because we knew we were going to have either: Pistachio ice cream from Carvel or 7 Layers from the local Italian bakery a few blocks away. There was nothing better.
I learned to make these from the 7 layer pro, my Grandmother, Nanny! She is either looking down waving her hands in the air saying, “Tisha Marie! Whatta ya doin’ sharing our family recipe?!” or she is excited I am continuing the tradition and sharing it for you all to enjoy! I hope she is proud and excited to see it being enjoyed by so many people. The best part is getting to teach my Daughter how to make them. She loves them too!
This recipe is definitely a little more labor intensive than your average Christmas sugar cookie, but trust me, they are so worth it. I promise you and everyone you share them with will be happy you did!
Here is the photocopy of the recipe I have from my Mother’s cookbook. It’s stained, creased, and wrinkled but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My heart is so full every time I pull it out of my baking recipe box.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz Almond paste
- 1 cup of Butter (softened)
- 1 cup of Sugar
- 4 Eggs Separated
- 2 Cups AP Flour (sifted)
- 20 Drops of red food coloring
- 12 Drops of green food color
- 1/4c Seedless raspberry jam
- 1/4c Smooth apricot preserves
- 6oz Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F
Line 3 baking 11 x 7 baking sheets with parchment paper and grease with butter. Tisha’s Tip: use the wrappers from your butter, there is enough residue on the wrapper to grease your parchment!
Add your almond paste to your stand mixer, I like to break it up into small pea-sized pieces by hand or with two forks. This is a great job if you have a little one.
Add sugar, but the splash guard on your mixer or a towel over the top because the almond paste will go everywhere. Start slow and gradually increase the speed of your beater. The sugar will start to break down the almond paste a bit.
Add your softened butter and egg yolks. Beat until light and fluffy.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the flour by hand with a wooden spoon. It will seem too thick but this is correct.
Beat your egg white just before they become stiff peaks
Slowly fold your egg whites into the batter
Separate 1 1/2 cups of batter into 3 bowls. It will be very thick.
Add red food coloring to one bowl, green to another, add a little yellow to the third (yellow is optional). I switched it up this year and did mint instead of green and peach instead of yellow. You can totally get creative and use whatever colors you want.
Spread each color into it’s own baking sheet, mine normally only fills about half the pan. That’s ok, you want it to be about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake for 12-14 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean once inserted.
Cool for a few minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.
Allow to cool completely
Heat up your jams, this will help them spread easily.
Place green layer on a cutting board and add raspberry jam, using the back of a spoon or spatula, spread the jam evenly all the way to the edges.
Stack the yellow layer on top of the green and top with the apricot preserves using the same technique.
Top with your red layer. Wrap plastic wrap around the layers and cutting board. Place another cutting board on top and add a few cans of tomatoes or any heavy items you have in your kitchen. This will make all three layers become one.
Let sit for 24 hours
Temper chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Start with 30 seconds, then stir, zap for another 30 more seconds, then stir. Continue until you have smooth melted chocolate.
Ice the red layer with the chocolate and allow it to set. Optional– add sprinkles before the chocolate sets.
Once the chocolate is set, place a serrated knife in a tall glass of hot water, dry off with a towel and cut your layers into 1/2 in strips. Dipping your knife in hot water between each cut. Cut each strip into 1.5 to 2in bars
Store in an airtight container, you can stack them if you put a layer of parchment between each layer, they also freeze really well too!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! Please tag us if you try them so we can see what you made!
Enjoy!
