DOUGH:

1 lb. butter
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. cold water

To make dough: Soften butter, blend in flour and salt. Gradually add cold water. Refrigerate overnight.

FILLING:

2 1/2 c. almond paste
2 c. sugar
2 eggs

To make filling:

Thoroughly mix almond paste, sugar and eggs. Using hands, roll into 4 sausage shapes.

To bake:

Roll out dough into 4 rectangles each about 8 x 15 inches. Place the rolls of filling on the 4 rectangles of dough. Roll dough around filling, tucking in ends and sealing seams as securely as possible. Place each roll on cookie sheet and form into desired letter. Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar, if desired. Bake at 425 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Note: Each single roll of pastry is easily formed into 1 letter, if that letter is a simple 1, such as C, D, J, L, O, P, etc. Other letters require sections of another roll of pastry. The recipe given makes enough pastry roll to form 4 large simple letters and because the recipe cannot be doubled or tripled, you must start all over again with a new batch and filling to make more letters.