Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 8 inch pans with non-stick foil. If you have 3, use 3.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the almond pastry filling and the almond extract.

In a second bowl using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and salt together until eggs are very light. Pour the egg mixture into the almond mixture and stir well. By hand or using the lowest speed of a mixer, stir in the flour until it is fully blended.

Divide batter evenly among three bowls so that you have about 1 cup of batter per bowl. If you have a scale, weigh the total amount of batter and divide it evenly by weight.

Dye one bowl of batter pink and another green. Leave the third bowl plain or add a little yellow to it if you like.

Bake cakes at 350 F for 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely in the pan. If you’ve baked two cakes, bake the two cakes, remove one baked cake by grasping the foil and lifting it out, then re-line the pan with fresh foil and bake the third layer.

Lay a large sheet of plastic wrap on a flat surface and transfer your cooled green cake to the plastic wrap. Spread preserves over the cake.

Carefully place the plain cake on top of the preserves. Spread the plain cake with a second layer of preserves. Carefully place the pink cake on top of the plain cake to make a stack. Holding the plastic wrap, lift your stack of cakes up and set in one of the empty pans.

Melt the chocolate and shortening in a microwave or over the stove. Pour the mixture over the pink layer and spread evenly. Chill until chocolate is set. Lift from pan and set on a cutting board. Trim the edges with a Chef’s Knife, then cut the square into 16 smaller squares.