Sorry, Mike. I couldn't wait...

My friend and co-worker Mike, who has previously sent me into a macaron frenzy, now had me obsessing about rainbow cookies, also known as seven-layer cookies. He recently went to New York with his fiancee for a week and brought back bagels, rainbow cookies and a cold.

I'd never had one before, but they reminded me of something colorful and gooey that you'd find in the pastry case in a panaderia back home in California. Mike said he would bring me a recipe from a New York bakery, but I couldn't wait, and got on the Googles this weekend and found this Seven Layer Cookies recipe from Gourmet magazine.

No exotic ingredients, save an eight-ounce can of almond paste, which gives the cookie its moist structure and nutty taste. I have not seen a can of almond paste since I moved to Nevada. I decided to make my own, after yet another Google search, and because I have a Costco-sized bag of almonds that I hide in my closet. If I left them in the pantry, my husband Rob would snack on them all day and night, putting paid to a five-pound bag of almonds in less than a week.

This almond paste recipe at the Food Network site seemed the most do-able, and a fraction of the cost of a tube or a can or any other container of almond paste from the store.

----------------------------------------------------
Almond Paste
www.foodnetwork.com

I cup plus 3 tablespoons (250 grams) sugar
1/4 cup (75 grams) honey
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (100 grams) water
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons (500 grams) blanched, whole, almonds
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (50 grams) Kirsch or simple syrup, optional
Scant 1/4 cup (50 grams) butter

Place the sugar, honey and water in a saucepan and bring to a strong boil. Place the almonds in the food processor and grind until coarse. Remove the boiling sugar from the heat and pour over the coarse almonds. Blend until smooth. This may take 10 minutes or more, depending on the strength of the food processor. Remember, food processors are not usually strong enough to yield the same consistency as the almond paste that you can buy. If your mixture is too thick and the food processor is straining, you can add a little Kirsch or simple syrup to the processor. Add the liquid slowly and stop when the processor is moving more freely. The quality of almond paste is determined by how smooth the consistency is.

Wrap the almond paste in plastic wrap and allow it to cool. When you are ready to use it, knead in the butter. The butter makes it smooth and not so sticky.
----------------------------------------------------

Also, did not have Kirsch or simple syrup, and I'll be damned if I'm going to whip up a batch of simple syrup in addition to "whipping up a batch" of almond paste. So instead I thinned out the almond mixture using the bottom of a bottle of white creme de cacao, a chocolate bean-flavored liqueur. Still the mixture was too thick and my food processor overheated and stalled on me. Thankfully it got going again after chillin' out for a few minutes, but at that point I was out of creme de cacao. So I rummaged in my pantry for something else, and the most simple syrup-like liquid I could come up with was a Torani pumpkin spice syrup, that I wound up using just a smidge less than a quarter cup.

I don't know what an eight-ounce can of almond paste tastes like, but it can't be anywhere near as tasty as this concoction turned out to be. The above recipe yields way more than is needed for the cookie recipe, and I'll be saving the leftovers for future projects.

With that out of the way, I could start with the main recipe:

----------------------------------------------------
Seven Layer Cookies
www.gourmet.com

4 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 (8-oz) can almond paste
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
25 drops red food coloring
25 drops green food coloring
1 (12-oz) jar apricot preserves, heated and strained
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

* Special equipment: a heavy-duty stand mixer; a small offset spatula

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan and line bottom with wax paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 ends, then butter paper.

Beat whites in mixer fitted with whisk attachment at medium-high speed until they just hold stiff peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating at high speed until whites hold stiff, slightly glossy peaks. Transfer to another bowl.

Switch to paddle attachment, then beat together almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and almond extract and beat until combined well, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and salt and mix until just combined.

Fold half of egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

Divide batter among 3 bowls. Stir red food coloring into one and green food coloring into another, leaving the third batch plain. Set white batter aside. Chill green batter, covered. Pour red batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with offset spatula (layer will be about 1/4 inch thick).

Bake red layer 8 to 10 minutes, until just set. (It is important to undercook.)

Using paper overhang, transfer layer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Clean pan, then line with wax paper and butter paper in same manner as above. Bake white layer in prepared pan until just set. As white layer bakes, bring green batter to room temperature. Transfer white layer to a rack. Prepare pan as above, then bake green layer in same manner as before. Transfer to a rack to cool.

When all layers are cool, invert green onto a wax-paper-lined large baking sheet. Discard paper from layer and spread with half of preserves. Invert white on top of green layer, discarding paper. Spread with remaining preserves. Invert red layer on top of white layer and discard wax paper.

Cover with plastic wrap and weight with a large baking pan. Chill at least 8 hours.

Remove weight and plastic wrap. Bring layers to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Keep chocolate over water.

Trim edges of assembled layers with a long serrated knife. Quickly spread half of chocolate in a thin layer on top of cake. Chill, uncovered, until chocolate is firm, about 15 minutes. Cover with another sheet of wax paper and place another baking sheet on top, then invert cake onto sheet and remove paper. Quickly spread with remaining chocolate. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Cut lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut strips crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide cookies.
----------------------------------------------------



Finally an opportunity to use my new offset spatula! I never knew the joy of properly spreading things around until this moment. Never again will I use a butter knife to do an offset spatula's job.


Perfectly stiff, slightly glossy peaks make me squee with joy.


I used a measuring cup to make sure the dough is perfectly divided into three portions. I'm not very good at eyeballing that kind of thing.


The recipe calls for 25 drops of food coloring for each of the colored layers. I might go 3 or 4 more next time for a wee bit richer color. But still very pretty.


Another variation on the above recipe: I used apple jelly instead of apricot preserves, because my son Jakob is allergic to any fruit with with a pit (apricots, peaches, cherries, plums, etc). He's inconveniently weird that way.


After an overnight stint in the fridge, the layers had coalesced nicely.


There are some very helpful notes at smittenkitchen.com regarding her Seven Layer Cookies, most notably about freezing the uncut cookies before attempting to cut. I cut a few here, pre-frozen, to see if they tasted okay (they do!) and the rest is chilling in the freezer for cutting tomorrow.

FINAL VERDICT: This candy-like cookie is easier to make than they appear. The baking portion is minimal, the work likes in the construction. It's a fun and pretty one to add to your cookie repertoire. I look forward to trying out Mike's straight-from-the-bakery recipe.