Ribbon Layer Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, blend together the almond paste, sugar and eggs. Mix in 1 1/2 Cups of butter and the almond extract. When the mixture is smooth and all of the ingredients have been incorporated, mix in the flour.

2. Divide the batter into 3 equal parts. So you’ll have approximately 1 3/4 Cups of batter in three bowls. Leave one bowl naturally colored. Dye one bowl red and the other green using as much food coloring as desired to reach your preferred color.

3. Spread each batter color into a separate 9×13″ baking dish that you’ve lined with wax paper (make sure the paper overhangs the ends of the pan so that you can use the paper as a handle later). Spread the allotted batter thinly and evenly into the baking dishes (an offset spatula is really helpful here). Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes each. Remove them from the oven. Lift out the waxed paper-lined cakes and let cakes cool on a wire rack. I recommend baking and cooling in the order of assembly: green, then white, then red.

4. Assembly: Place the green layer of cake on a cookie sheet that has been turned upside down then covered with foil. Spread approximately 2-3 Tablespoons of raspberry jam evenly on the cake layer. Next, place the white layer on top of the jam and cover that with another 2-3 Tablespoons of jam. Lastly, place the red layer on top. Cover the cookies with foil or wax paper, followed by a second cookie sheet. Weigh down the top cookie sheet with two 28-ounce cans or something similar. Refrigerate overnight.

5. Icing (the next morning): In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and 2 Tablespoons of butter. When it’s melted, remove it from the heat. Whisk in powdered sugar and then slowly add the hot coffee until the mixture is smooth. Cool lightly before pouring/spreading the icing over the top of the cookies. Allow the icing to set up about 30 minutes. Then cut the cookies into 1-inch squares.

These will go quickly, so don’t worry about making the bites too small!