Double Rainbow Cookie Cake

I am a lucky, lucky girl for many reasons, the most important of which is because of the loving family and friends that I have.  Some people have friends, some have best friends, and some have best friends that become family.  I have one of those best friends who is so close that the line between friend and sister has completed blended.  By now, you’ve figured out this is going to be a mushy post.  Quick, someone give me a cracker for that cheese.  Let’s face it, I’m so cheesy I might as well be cheese whiz.  But one man’s cheese is another man’s treasure.

My best friend, and sister, had a big birthday this week.  It isn’t everyday you have a milestone birthday; although, every year should be treated as such.  And, for her birthday, I knew I had to bake her the one thing that I have been promising her for years: a rainbow cookie cake.  Yes, that’s right…an entire cake made out of rainbow cookies.  Now, you may be asking why it’s taken me so long to bake this, or you may be asking why in the world anyone would want such a thing.  Well, the answer is simple. The recipe seemed daunting and my girl loves her a rainbow cookie.

Well, this Bite-Sized Blonde decided to put her big girl apron on and give this cake a whirl, and guess what…it was easy as pie and as magnificent as a double rainbow.

Rainbow Cookie Cake

Ingredients
8 ounces almond paste
1  stick of butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
Red food coloring
Green food coloring
Raspberry preserves
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line three 9 nine inch aluminum pie pans with parchment paper; this makes it easier to remove the cake.  In a large bowl, break apart the almond paste with a fork.  Cream the almond paste together with the butter, sugar and egg yolks.  When this mixture is smooth, stir in the flour to form dough; I like to use my hands to do this. Keep in mind, this is dough, not batter, so it will be thick and heavy.  In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  (When you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks are just starting to hold. They’re soft and melt back into themselves after a second.) Fold the eggs whites into the dough and then divide the dough into 3 equal portions.  Mix one portion with red food coloring, one portion with green food coloring, and leave one as is.  You can use as much food coloring and you like so have fun with this!  I used 7 drops of each color.  If you are going to use your hands to do this, make sure you are wearing gloves, otherwise you’ll look like you just tie dyed a t-shirt at the art shack at camp.  If you don’t have gloves, just use a spatula.  Spread each portion of dough into one of the prepared pie pans.  The dough is sticky so be patient.  The dough must be spread in an even layer in order to cook evenly.

Bake each cake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  After the cakes have had time to cool, carefully remove them from the parchment paper.  Place two pieces of parchment paper on a plate.  Then, place the green layer of cake down on the parchment paper.  Spread a thin layer of raspberry preserves onto the cake.  Top with the uncolored layer and then spread a thin layer of raspberry preserves.  Cover with the red layer of cake.  If your cakes are not even, don’t worry.  You can shave off the outside of the cakes with a knife.  Then, wrap the cake in plastic wrap.  Place a heavy pan or cutting board on the cake to compress it for 30 minutes.  After the cake has had time to compress, remove the plastic wrap and top the cake with melted chocolate chips.  Refrigerate for at least an hour or until the chocolate has firmed.  After the chocolate has cooled, you can remove the parchment paper from the plate, leaving you a nice, clean plate to serve the cake on.  Slice and enjoy!