Neapolitan Christmas Cookies

I first saw these cookies in a magazine article and was immediately drawn in by how festive and pretty they are.  At the same time, I was puzzled as to why they were referred to as "cookies" since they really look more like cake squares to me.  However, once I actually tasted them, I could understand a little more why they're referred to as cookies.  While the texture does have some cake qualities, they have more of a crumbly consistency like that of an almond shortbread cookie.  Not only are these cookies impressive to look at and are surprisingly easy to make, they also live up to their appearance in flavour too.  One of my biggest pet peeves is when food looks absolutely gorgeous, but the flavour falls flat.

Neapolitan cookies (also known as Venetian Cookies, Italian Christmas Cookies, or Rainbow Cookies) are an Italian American creation quite popular in the 70's.  Traditionally. these cookies consist of six layers; chocolate on the top, then a red cookie layer, apricot jam, a plain (or blonde) cookie layer, raspberry jam, and finally a green cookie layer.  As well, the cookie batter always contains Marzipan, which is creamed with the butter.

I decided to create my own recipe and put a modern twist on a classic.  While I like the idea of jam in the layers (and I'm sure a purist would say it's a must), I didn't want to go out and buy two different jars of jam or have to make my own just for this recipe.  So, I decided instead to replace the apricot layer with milk chocolate Ganache and the raspberry layer with white chocolate Ganache (though raspberry white chocolate would be really good).  As well, I'm not a big fan of Marzipan, I find the texture to be kind of strange and the combination of rose water with almonds is a little too strong for my palate.  I think part of the reason I don't like it, is most of the time the Marzipan you can buy from the store (or at least where I live), has been sitting in the package for a long time.  If it was freshly made, perhaps I would feel differently.

When coming up with my recipe, I toyed with the idea of making Marzipan from scratch, or to be more exact; almond paste which is exactly the same thing only minus the rose water,  From what I had read, it seemed pretty easy - just blitz almonds, egg whites, almond extract and powdered sugar in a food processor until it forms a paste.  However, I realized I could essentially create the same effect by mixing ground almonds, with some of the meringue which the cookie recipe calls for and kill two birds with one culinary stone.  The results were exactly what I was looking for, the cookies have that half cake, half crumbly cookie texture just like the traditional recipe and the chocolate is perfect with the delicate almond flavour of the cookie.  Not to mention, I love when a recipe uses three types of chocolate, in this case dark chocolate for the top of the cookies, then milk and white chocolate in the layers.  It's a really nice mixture of chocolate goodness.

My mom always made the same baked goods every Christmas, which was really comforting and nice. I loved to hear her puttering away in the kitchen baking.  I lost my mom when I was 24 years old, I wish I could go back and learn her recipes she could instinctively make from memory.  Instead, I'm starting my own traditions and compiling recipes from year to year that will hopefully become a part of my children's treasured memories one day.  I think these Neapolitan Cookies might be on my list of baking to make every year.

Neapolitan Cookie Recipe:

4 eggs (whites separated from the yolks)
1 cup of sugar
1 1/4 cups ground almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
1 cup of butter at room temperature
2 cups of cake and pastry flour
20 drops of red food colouring
12 drops of green food colouring
100 gram bar of milk chocolate (I used Cadbury)
100 gram bar of white chocolate (I used Lindt)
175ml of heavy cream
8 ounces of semi sweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and line with parchment paper three jelly roll sized cookie sheets, making sure to have some excess parchment hanging over the two shortest ends of the pan which will make it much easier to life each layer out of the pan later. Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl using electric beaters), whip the egg whites and a 1/4 cup of the sugar (reserving the 3/4's of a cup for later) until stiff peaks are formed.  Transfer all but a large dollop (about 1/2 cup) of the egg whites to another bowl and set aside.  Add the ground almonds to the remaining dollop of the meringue you left in the mixing bowl, then the egg yolks, and mix on medium for a couple of minutes until well combined.  As mentioned above, this step is my way of making almond paste, negating the need for Marzipan.  Then add the butter, vanilla and almond extract to the almond mixture and beat on high for 2 minutes.  Remove mixing bowl from stand mixer, sift in the pastry flour and mix by hand (the batter will be stiff at this point). Then fold in the remaining meringue that you have set aside.  Divide the batter evenly into three separate bowls and add red food colouring to one bowl of batter, green food colouring to the second bowl and leave the third bowl plain.

Pour each bowl of batter into one of the prepared jelly roll pans and spread the batter out evenly with an offset spatula.  You should have a tray with green batter, red batter and one plain.  Bake all three trays in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, you may need to shift the trays in the oven half way through baking to ensure they all bake evenly and are done at the same time.  Let cool while you make the Ganache.

Break up each bar of chocolate and place the milk chocolate in a small bowl and the white chocolate in another bowl.  Heat up the cream on the stove in a small saucepan and pour 100ml's of the cream over the milk chocolate and 75ml's over the white chocolate. Let each bowl sit for a couple of minutes, then using a rubber spatula stir until the chocolate has melted together with the cream forming a Ganache.  Set aside each bowl of Ganache to cool and thicken slightly.

Once everything has cooled to room temperature, start assembling the cookies.  Remove the green layer from the pan, by lifting up on the parchment paper that is hanging over two ends of the pan (as mentioned above).  Place the layer on a cutting board to make for easier slicing later (in a pinch an inverted jelly roll pan works too). Pour the white chocolate Ganache onto the green layer and spread it around leaving about a 2 cm border around the edges.  Then remove the plain layer from it's pan and place on top of the green layer.  Then pour the milk chocolate Ganache over spread out in the same way, leaving a 2 cm border around the edges. Place the final red layer on top of everything and then cover the entire thing with a plastic wrap ensuring to make air tight (you'll probably need a couple layers of plastic wrap).  Put a baking tray on top of the whole thing and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or over night.  The baking tray on top adds some pressure which will help the layers to fuse together really well.

Once the whole tray has been chilled for at least 2 hours or more, remove from the fridge take off the baking tray placed on top.  Let sit still covered in the plastic wrap while you get on with melting the chocolate for the top of the cake.

In a heat proof bowl, add the semi sweet chocolate and melt over a double boiler (or in the microwave at 30 second intervals).  Remove the plastic wrap from the cake, and pour the melted chocolate over the top of the cake.  Using a small offset spatula, spread and swirl the chocolate over the entire top of the cake and spread right out the edges, don't worry if some spills over.  Put back in the fridge uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes to set.  Remove from the fridge and (using a sharp preferably long knife), trim off a thin slice from each of the four sides.  This will make all the squares look neat and tidy when cut into squares leaving no pieces with rough edges.  Not to mention, the pieces you remove can be the cooks snack!  Then slice the remaining slab into squares.