This is a cake that when you first see it, you might think is some kind of novelty cake. People are often kind of astounded by the pink and mint greenness and assume it is some kind of retro recipe that is more about looks than taste. They are wrong. It is a surprisingly good cake, quite dense, and the pastry crust, jam and almond frosting all come together to make a very nice flavour combination. I am still working on perfecting the technique to get just the right colour swirl effect, rather than layers like it turned out this year. This is my mother-in-law’s recipe again, and Ian’s most requested holiday dessert.

Red and Green Cake
Or Raspberry Almond Christmas Bars

1 single pie crust (from scratch or frozen)
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
red and green food colouring

Frosting:
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 – 2 cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract

Line an 8″ square pan with the pastry shell, trimming the edges as needed. Spread with rasberry jam. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together well. Add eggs, beating until light and fluffy. Add flour and salt, mix well. Divide batter in half and add red food colouring to one half and green to the other. Put small spoonfulls of each mixture alternately on top of the jam and tap the pan gently on the counter to even batter. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
Beat frosting ingredients together until smooth and creamy, adding enough icing to make a spreading consistency. Spread over cooled squares. Makes 2 dozen bars.