Neapolitan Squares Recipes

NEAPOLITAN HOLIDAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 3 quarter-sheet pans (or three 13-by-9-by-2-inch jelly roll pans) with cooking spray. Line each pan with parchment paper and coat the paper with cooking spray as well.
• Place the almond paste in the bowl of a stand mixer. Break it up into small pieces with a fork. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and add the butter and sugar to the bowl. Beat the mixture on high speed until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, add the egg yolks, and beat until incorporated. Turn the mixer off and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.
• Clean the mixer bowl thoroughly and fit the mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter until thoroughly blended.
• Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the batter to a medium bowl, then transfer another 1 1/2 cups of the batter to a second medium bowl. Add the red food coloring to one of the bowls and stir until the batter is tinted throughout. Add the green food coloring to the second bowl and stir until the batter is tinted throughout. Scrape each of the three batters into one of the prepared pans, using the spatula to spread the batter to the edges. Bake, rotating and switching the positions of the pans halfway through, until the edges are golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then invert onto cooling racks and allow to cool completely.
• To assemble, place the green layer on a large cutting board or a large inverted baking sheet lined with wax paper. Spread the raspberry jam evenly over the top. Place the yellow layer on top and spread with the apricot preserves. If there are large chunks of apricots, remove and chop them up to make them more spreadable. Top with the red layer. Cover with plastic wrap and place a heavy cutting board on top to weight it down. Refrigerate overnight.
• Place the chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl and melt in the microwave on low power about 2 minutes. Spread the chocolate on top of the cooled cake and let dry slightly. Trim the rim of the cake with a serrated knife to make clean edges. Cut the cake crosswise into twelve 1-inch-wide strips, then cut lengthwise into 1 1/4-inch strips. The cookies will keep, covered, up to 1 week.

NEAPOLITAN CAKE BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mash devil's food cake mix, 1/2 cup butter and 1 egg until well combined. Repeat in separate bowls with white cake mix and strawberry cake mix using remaining butter and eggs.
• Press devil's food batter in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
• Press white batter on top of devil's food batter.
• Press strawberry batter on top of white batter.
• Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 45 minutes. Cut into bars.

NEAPOLITAN BARS

Steps:

• Line a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside., In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Divide dough in thirds. Tint one portion green and one portion red; leave the remaining portion white. Add chocolate chips to green portion, cherries to red portion and coconut and rum extract to white portion. Spread one portion into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until edges are golden brown., Immediately invert onto a wire rack and remove waxed paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining portions, preparing pan each time., Place pink layer on a large piece of plastic wrap, about 30 in. long. Spread with cherry preserves. Top with white layer and spread with apricot preserves. Top with green layer. Bring plastic over layers. Slide onto a baking sheet and set a cutting board on top to compress layers. Refrigerate overnight., With a sharp knife, trim 1/4 in. from each edge. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

NEAPOLITAN SQUARES

Steps:

• Bottom Layer: Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine first four ingredients.
• Press into a greased 9"X9" pan with greased sides.
• Bake for 10 minute.
• Second layer: Combine coconut and condensed milk.
• Spread over bottom layer.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until a slight tinge of light brown begins to show on edges.
• Cool before frosting.
• Icing: Beat icing sugar, remaining butter and cherry juice together.
• You may need more juice to make it soft enough to spread.
• Spread over cooled bars.
• Cover tightly and store at least one day to soften.
• Can be use the same day as baked but will be more difficult to cut.
• Yield is 36 bars.
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• If you do not have cherry juice, use water with a bit of red food colouring with 1/4 tsp cherry or almond flavouring.

NEAPOLITAN COCONUT STRIPS

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch square cake pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Combine white chocolate, condensed milk, butter, salt, and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in both types of coconut.
• Divide mixture among 3 bowls. Stir milk chocolate into 1 batch and food coloring into another. Leave third plain.
• Spread milk-chocolate mixture into bottom of pan. Gently dollop plain mixture over top, covering as much surface as possible. Gently spread, then repeat with the remaining mixture. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Unmold coconut square using plastic overhang, and discard plastic. Trim about 1/4 inch each from 2 parallel sides. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide slices. Cut each slice into 1 1/2-inch-long strips. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

LAYERED NEOPOLITAN SQUARES

Steps:

• Bottom: Mix the 4 first ingredients together. Put in a greased 9x9 baking pan (grease the sides also). Cook in the oven at 350 F for 10 minutes.
• Second Layer: In a clean bowl, mix coconut and condensed milk. Spread this mixture on the bottom, in the pan. Cook in the oven at 350 F for 20 minutes, or until the cookie begins to golden on the sides. Let cool before icing.
• Icing: Beat all ingredients of the icing together, adding juice, if needed to have a good consistency. Put the icing on the cold cookie. Put in an hermetic container and let rest at least one day to let the cookie soften. You can eat the squares the same day but they're harder to cut when fresh.

NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Roll out three sheets of puff pastry, each to the same size and a thickness of 1/8 inch. Prick with a fork, and place on baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 10 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk with fingers until smooth. Stir in cake flour and half the sugar. Beat in egg yolks. Set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, bring remaining milk and remaining sugar to a rolling boil. Stir in egg yolk mixture; continue stirring and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool.
• In a small saucepan or in the microwave, heat the jam until runny.
• Place one sheet of pastry on a board. Spread with cooled pastry cream to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Place a second pastry sheet over the cream. Brush with fruit glaze. Spread remaining pastry cream over glaze. Top with final pastry sheet and gently compress layers, using a baking sheet to press.
• To make icing, beat together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice with enough of the egg whites to make a creamy consistency like that of a cream soup. Working quickly, color a small portion of the frosting with red food coloring. Frost the top and sides of the assembled pastry with white icing. Pipe parallel lines of red icing on top of dessert, then draw a pick or knife crosswise through icing to make the traditional design. Let icing set before cutting into bars.