While on a culinary walkabout in NYC last summer I stumbled onto a sweet shoppe (are you shocked?) where the options were LIMITLESS, but I settled on this little beauty, the "seven layer cookie", or "rainbow cookie". Aptly name, the textbook definition is as follows: three layers of thin almond sponge cake, dyed with food colouring and baked, the layers brushed with jam and stacked, and finally coated with melted chocolate. Thought to have originated in Italian communities in the United States during the 1900s, in homage to the community's heritage, the common version of this confection includes the colours red, white and green, representing the Italian flag. Though the preparation was slightly altered to fit the cupcake mold, my version presents itself as follows: almond cake(w/ Disaronno)/apricot jam/almond cake/apricot jam/almond cake/chocolate (w/ Disaronno)/apricot buttercream. Not unlike your run of the mill treats, the colours are more of a green, yellow, pink, lending to rainbow colours, reminiscent of a fresh spring rain.
Almond Cupcakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp Disaronno
2/3 cup almond milk
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
red and green food colouring
10oz jar apricot preserve, heated and strained (reserve 1/4 cup for frosting)
10oz jar raspberry preserve, heated and strained
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl combine the almond milk, extract and Disaronno, set aside. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until combined. Divide the batter into thirds adding red food colouring to one bowl and green to another, leaving the last bowl to it's natural devices. Fill 1/4 of each pan with green batter, add a dollop (~1 tsp) of apricot preserve, add white batter to the pan halfway, drop a dollop (~1 tsp) of raspberry preserve and fill the pans 3/4 way full using the red batter. This batch yielded 36 mini cupcakes baked for 13 minutes.
Chocolate Ganache
7 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp Disaronno
Melt the chocolate in a double broiler adding the butter and stiring thoroughly. Mix in the Disaronno (the mixture may thicken here, simply add more butter until it becomes runny once more).
Apricot Buttercream
2 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powder/confectioner sugar
1/4 cup apricot preserve (from above)
1 tbsp almond milk
Cream the shortening, butter, and sugar together until well combined. Add apricot preserve and almond milk, mixing thoroughly.
I served the cakes upside down, drizzling each with the chocolate and topping them off with a apricot buttercream floret.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp Disaronno
2/3 cup almond milk
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
red and green food colouring
10oz jar apricot preserve, heated and strained (reserve 1/4 cup for frosting)
10oz jar raspberry preserve, heated and strained
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl combine the almond milk, extract and Disaronno, set aside. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until combined. Divide the batter into thirds adding red food colouring to one bowl and green to another, leaving the last bowl to it's natural devices. Fill 1/4 of each pan with green batter, add a dollop (~1 tsp) of apricot preserve, add white batter to the pan halfway, drop a dollop (~1 tsp) of raspberry preserve and fill the pans 3/4 way full using the red batter. This batch yielded 36 mini cupcakes baked for 13 minutes.
Chocolate Ganache
7 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp Disaronno
Melt the chocolate in a double broiler adding the butter and stiring thoroughly. Mix in the Disaronno (the mixture may thicken here, simply add more butter until it becomes runny once more).
Apricot Buttercream
2 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powder/confectioner sugar
1/4 cup apricot preserve (from above)
1 tbsp almond milk
Cream the shortening, butter, and sugar together until well combined. Add apricot preserve and almond milk, mixing thoroughly.
I served the cakes upside down, drizzling each with the chocolate and topping them off with a apricot buttercream floret.
The Panel
"Very cute" and "pretty". The flavours were commented to work well in combination thought the almond/amaretto was severely lacking a presence. Of the preserves used there seem to be a heavier appreciation for the raspberry and many requested more chocolate though Kupcake could have done entirely without. Buttercream well received as per usual. Cakes were moist to soggy with jams permeating them thoroughly. There were mixed reviews expressed concerning the presentation as a miniature duo as opposed to the usual singular suspect; the bite size concept was well received as a change of pace but there was so much going on in the cakes that a larger version would have been preferred when considering every last detail.
Giovanni: "Tastes like an adult version of a fig newton (in a good way)."
Fathom's Chef: "Drizzle of choc gave perfect contrast and flavor."
EatFreak:
My comments:
I personally found the cakes to be a little overly moist, I had to bake them a little longer so they would set and this was very likely attributable to the preserves. The colours were absolutely brilliant and I was very pleased with the final presentation. Though the chocolate was a nice addition, I think the low quality of the store brand semi-sweet chips was too obvious and that a dark or even white chocolate may have been better suited. I was definitely disappointed in the lack of almond flavour, I ran short on extract and the Disaronno failed as a backup. I can certainly agree with some of the judges that there was alot going on in these cakes to only have presented them as minis and would love to reproduce them as full sized cake. Buttercream presented a perfect hint of apricot.
"Very cute" and "pretty". The flavours were commented to work well in combination thought the almond/amaretto was severely lacking a presence. Of the preserves used there seem to be a heavier appreciation for the raspberry and many requested more chocolate though Kupcake could have done entirely without. Buttercream well received as per usual. Cakes were moist to soggy with jams permeating them thoroughly. There were mixed reviews expressed concerning the presentation as a miniature duo as opposed to the usual singular suspect; the bite size concept was well received as a change of pace but there was so much going on in the cakes that a larger version would have been preferred when considering every last detail.
Giovanni: "Tastes like an adult version of a fig newton (in a good way)."
Fathom's Chef: "Drizzle of choc gave perfect contrast and flavor."
EatFreak:
My comments:
I personally found the cakes to be a little overly moist, I had to bake them a little longer so they would set and this was very likely attributable to the preserves. The colours were absolutely brilliant and I was very pleased with the final presentation. Though the chocolate was a nice addition, I think the low quality of the store brand semi-sweet chips was too obvious and that a dark or even white chocolate may have been better suited. I was definitely disappointed in the lack of almond flavour, I ran short on extract and the Disaronno failed as a backup. I can certainly agree with some of the judges that there was alot going on in these cakes to only have presented them as minis and would love to reproduce them as full sized cake. Buttercream presented a perfect hint of apricot.