Christmas: Venetians Cookies
Source of Recipe
by Laurel, from 2005 Minneapolis Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest/Suzanne Walcher of Orono
Recipe Introduction
Note: This recipe must be prepared a day in advance. "My mom has been making these bar cookies for years," wrote Suzanne Walcher of Orono. "It wouldn't be Christmas in our house without Venetians. They look like the kind of confection you imagine when hearing about 'Sugar plums dancing in their heads.' "
List of Ingredients
• 1 (8-oz.) tube almond paste, crumbled
• 1-1/2 c. (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pans
• 1 c. sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 2 c. sifted flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Red and green food coloring
• 1 (1-oz.) jar apricot preserves
• 1 c. (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chipsRecipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of three 9- by 13-inch pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, extending paper 3 inches over short sides of pan. Butter top of parchment paper.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer on low speed, mix almond paste, butter, sugar, egg yolks and almond extract until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture to butter and sugar mix, mixing until thoroughly combined.
In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold egg whites into batter.
Evenly spread 1-1/2 cups batter into first pan. In a medium bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups batter with 3 to 4 drops of red food coloring (enough to make batter turn a deep pink) and evenly spread batter into second pan.
Tint remaining 1-1/2 cups batter with 3 to 4 drops of green food coloring (enough to make batter turn a mint green) and evenly spread batter into third pan.
Bake each pan for 15 minutes, until edges start to turn brown. Remove from oven. Leaving parchment paper intact, carefully transfer each cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring apricot preserves to a simmer, stirring frequently, until preserves soften and liquefy, about 2 minutes. Strain preserves through a fine wire-mesh strainer, reserving liquid only for spreading on cake layers.
Invert green cake layer on a jelly roll pan and remove parchment paper. Divide strained preserves in half, evenly spreading one-half of preserves across top of green cake layer.
Top with inverted yellow (untinted) layer, remove parchment paper and spread remaining preserves evenly across top of yellow cake.
Top with inverted pink layer and remove parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap, weigh cake down with a cutting board and refrigerate overnight.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips and evenly spread over top of stacked layers. Let chocolate harden. Using a sharp knife, trim edges and cut remaining cake into bar cookies.
Makes about 4 dozen bar cookies.
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