Rainbow Cookies

325 degrees

Make the Cake: Place racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven, or if you have three racks space them evenly. Spray three 12” x 17” half sheet pans with pan spray. Then place parchment paper on top of pans. (This way the parchment won’t slip around when you smear it with the thin layer of batter.)

Place the almond paste in the large food processor fitted with the steel blade and blend for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of coarse wet sand. Add one quarter of the softened butter and pulse until it is blended with the almond paste. Blend in another quarter of the butter. Gradually add the remaining butter and blend until fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolks and pulse to blend. Pulse in the almond flour, then the all-purpose flour. Transfer the mixture to a larger mixing bowl.

Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the batter.

Evenly divide the batter into three bowls. Add red food coloring to one bowl, green food coloring to another bowl, and yellow food coloring to the third, and stir well to blend in each color. The batter with the red food coloring should be bright pink, the green batter should be a light green, and the yellow batter should be a vibrant yellow. Add more food coloring if necessary.

Scrape all of one colored batter onto one end of a prepared sheet and using the spatula, preferably offset, spread it evenly. It takes a while, but eventually the batter should be spread evenly over the baking sheet. Then slide your finger along the inside edge of the baking sheet to remove the excess batter from the edges. Repeat with the remaining 2 colored batters.

Place the pans in the oven (you may have to do this in 2 batches) and bake for 10 minutes. Switch the first two pans from top to bottom and rotate from front to back and continue to bake until cake is firm to the touch, about 7-10 minutes more. Bake the third sheet on the middle rack, rotating from front to back after 10 minutes. The cakes should not brown. Allow to cool in the baking sheets for 10 minutes.

Assemble the Cake: Put an empty baking sheet in front of you, upside down. Spray lightly with pan spray and top with a piece of parchment (the spray will keep the parchment from slipping). Invert the yellow cakes onto the baking sheet. Place a hot moist towel over the parchment and the bottom of the cake for a couple minutes, then peel off the parchment. If it doesn’t peel off neatly, then tear it off in strips. Using a pastry brush, brush evenly with of the simple syrup. Smear the apricot jam evenly over the cake. Top the pink cake and remove the parchment on the bottom in the same way. Brush evenly with half of the remaining syrup. Spread the raspberry jam evenly over the top. Complete with the green layer, removing the parchment and brushing with the remaining syrup. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Make the Chocolate Glaze: Combine the chocolate with the butter in the microwave-safe bowl and melt at 50 percent power for 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Or melt in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Stir in the corn syrup and the Grand Marnier.

Remove the cakes from the refrigerator and unwrap it. Pour the glaze over the top and using the offset spatula spread the glaze evenly over the top, stopping just before the edges.

Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, or until the glaze is set. Remove from the refrigerator and cut into 1” or 1 1⁄2” squares. Use a knife dipped in warm water to heat it and wiped dry. Wipe the knife clean after each cut.

* To make simple syrup whisk together one cup of water and one cup of sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and allow syrup to cool to room temperature. Syrup can be stored in a covered jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.