Rainbow Cookies are a Christmas staple in my family. There will literally be an UPROAR if we don’t have those on the cookie spread. Given these are a pain in the ass to make, my siblings cherish the rare appearance once a year and refuse to let anything get in the way of that.
Rainbow Cookies are a traditional Italian dessert made from three colored layers of light, almond sponge to resemble the Italian flag! You usually use some type of almond paste or marzipan and it makes them smell (and taste) SO. GOOD. Layered with raspberry preserves and topped with a thin layer of chocolate, this cookie is truly addicting.
Naturally, I had to throw my ice cream twist on this bad boy, and we swapped out the traditional recipe for a more freezer-friendly almond cake and swapped the middle layer of sponge for an almond based ice cream (are you drooling?).
THESE ARE DANGEROUS. Not in assembly but in easy they are to just pop in your mouth over and over. (I ate roughly 6 just trying to film the ending of the video.) *Bakers beware*- these are addicting.
Make sure to follow me on Instagram (@theicescreamqueen) so you never miss a post!
Ice Cream Rainbow Cookies
Ingredients
Almond Cake (Red and Green Layers)
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter soft, unsalted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 drops red food coloring
- 6 drops green food coloring
- 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
Almond Ice Cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp almond extract
Chocolate Topping
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
Almond Cake (Red and Green Layers)
- Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- In a larger bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add in the eggs and both extracts.
- Add in the dry ingredients and the milk by alternating between the two in portions. Starting with half of the milk- mix, then half the dry- mix, remaining milk – mix, remaining dry- mix.
- Separate evenly between two bowls and color one bowl with the red food coloring and the other with the green.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 9-10 minutes.
Almond Ice Cream
- Place half the cream in a bowl with a mesh strainer on top and set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the milk, remaining half of the cream, sugar and salt until sugar is dissolved and liquid is scalding hot but not boiling.
- Temper in your egg yolks slowly and cook low and slow with continuously stirring until the mixture thickens slightly.
- Strain through the mesh strainer and stir to combine. Then, add in the almond extract and cool for 4 hours or overnight.
- Churn to your ice cream machine's instructions.
Chocolate Topping
- Heat the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave in 30 second intervals until fully melted. Let cool slightly.
Assembly
- Build the layers inside the pan you baked your cake in for structure!
- Place down one layer of green cake, followed by a thin layer of raspberry preserves, then a layer of almond ice cream.
- Next, take some raspberry preserves and spread it across one side of a red cake layer. Place the cake layer raspberry spread side down onto the ice cream layer.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove from plastic wrap and gentle trim the sides so you see nice, clean layers. Use a warm knife for easy cutting.
- Coat the top of your red layer with a thin layer of chocolate topping. For the traditional look, do not let the chocolate drip on the sides!
- Freeze again for a few hours to solidify.
- With a warm knife, cut the cake into small rectangle pieces and enjoy!
