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1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour three 15-by-10-inch rimmed sheet pans, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
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2
Combine the almond paste and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
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3
Mix on medium speed until you have fine crumbles.
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4
Add the butter, a few pieces at a time, and pulse until well mixed.
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5
Plop in the egg yolks, one at a time, and mix until the batter is smooth.
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6
Sprinkle in the salt, and mix.
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7
Sift in the flour, and mix until just combined.
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8
Whisk egg whites in a bowl until foamy.
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9
While whisking, slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and whisk until firm peaks form.
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10
Fold about a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then gently fold in remaining egg whites.
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11
Divide the batter evenly into three bowls.
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12
Leave one bowl plain, without any coloring.
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13
Add the red food coloring to one bowl, stirring to make a deep-salmon color.
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14
Add the green food coloring to the last bowl, stirring to make a medium-green color.
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15
Spread batter into each of the prepared pans with a spatula.
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16
Bake, rotating pans to opposite racks, until the cakes are cooked through and just beginning to brown around the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes.
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17
Remove from oven, let the cakes cool completely on wire racks, then remove from pans.
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18
Trim each of the layers to even out the thickness of the cakes.
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19
Put the green cake layer back, cut side up, into one of the lined pans.
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20
Spread one jar of jam over the cake, almost all the way to the edges.
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21
Place the plain layer of cake on top of the jam.
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22
Spread the remaining jar of jam almost all the way to the edges of the plain layer.
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23
Place the red layer on top of the jam, cut side up.
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24
Wrap the entire cake in plastic, and top with another pan, weighted with cans.
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25
Chill in the refrigerator 4 hours or overnight.
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26
Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
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27
Unwrap the cake, and place on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
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28
Pour and spread the chocolate over the top of the cake, using a spatula to guide the chocolate over the top and down the sides of the cake.
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29
If the kitchen is cool, let the chocolate harden that way; if it is warm, clear a space in the refrigerator to place the cake, and let the chocolate harden.
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30
When the chocolate is about halfway set, gently rake the topping with the tines of a fork or a dough scraper with dentals, starting from the end of the chocolate covering all the the way to the other end, slightly undulating the lines as you move along.
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31
Repeat until all of the chocolate has indented stripes.
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32
Let the chocolate set completely.
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33
Using a serrated knife, cut the set and decorated layers into three dozen rectangles, using the outer sides to form perfectly cut rectangles.
