Make Battenburg Cake

This yummy and light sponge cake is a popular treat in England. When you slice open a Battenburg cake, the insides reveal a "checkerboard" pattern of alternating pink and yellow. It's a great party cake for all ages and a perfect afternoon tea treat.

Ingredients

  • 5 1/4 ounces (150 grams) of butter, softened
  • 5 1/4 ounces (150 grams) of white sugar
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon Make Vanilla Extract essence (extract) or 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
  • 5 1/4 ounces (150 grams) self-raising flour
  • 1 ounce (30 ml) whole milk
  • 1 drop of pink food coloring
  • 2 3/4 ounces (75 grams) apricot jam
  • Few drops of water
  • 7 ounces (200 grams) ready-rolled marzipan or almond paste

To make almond paste:

  • 2 cups ground almonds
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF, 200ºC, or gas mark 6.
  2. Make the batter. Add the flour, 3 eggs, white sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla in a bowl. Use a whisk to beat everything together until it's smooth.
  3. Create the "pink" batter. Get another bowl and pour half of the batter into it. Use a drop of pink food coloring in one of the bowls and mix it into that batter bowl.
  4. Use extra butter or grease to grease the cake tin. Make a "barrier" with the aluminum foil by using a thick layer of it and then placing it down the middle of the pan so that it divides the tin into two equal parts. You may also use two separate rectangular cake tins of the same size.
  5. Pour the colored batter into one side of the tin and pour the non-colored batter into the other side.
  6. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes or until it feels "springy". Set it aside to cool. Remove from the baking tin.
  7. Cut the cake in half to divide the colors from each other. Place one on top of each other and skim/trim the edges so that both of them will be the same size.
  8. Measure lengthwise and cut the cakes in half.
  9. Add Make Apricot Jam and water to a pot. Heat both ingredients until the jam turns into a liquid.
  10. Create the checkerboard effect of the cake.
    • Get a pink cake piece and use a brush to add a little amount of jam on one side of the piece.
    • Get a yellow cake piece and "glue" it to the jam side of the pink piece. Secure both cake pieces together gently.
    • Use jam and brush it on both connected pieces. Stack a yellow cake piece on top of the pink piece and then add a pink piece on top of the yellow piece.
  11. Brush the entire outside of the cake with more jam.
  12. Measure and cut the marzipan so it's a little bigger or longer than the cake. Use the marzipan as if you're wrapping a present and wrap it around the cake. Secure the ends with jam.
  13. Use a knife or scissors to cut off the extra marzipan. Place the finished cake on a plate with the seal down.
  14. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving.
  15. Serve. Place a sharp serving knife with the cake for ease of cutting slices. It helps to cut the first slice so that guests know the treat that's in store for them when they slice a piece of Battenburg cake.

To make homemade almond paste

  1. Get a bowl and combine the egg, almond extract, lemon juice, almonds, and confectioners' sugar.
  2. Mix and knead the mixture until it's a smooth paste. If the mixture becomes too dry, add a few drops to 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Half the "dough" into two equal parts.
  3. Use confectioners' sugar to dust the paste and "working space". Roll each paste half to about 1/8 inch or so thick.
  4. Finished.

Tips

  • Serve with other afternoon tea treats in similar colors, such as strawberry fairy cakes, strawberry lamingtons and vanilla cupcakes.
  • The Battenburg cake derives its name from the fact that it was originally created by the chefs of the British Royal household to celebrate the marriage of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg.[1]

Things You'll Need

  • Large bowl
  • 2 small or medium bowls
  • 6 inch or 15 cm square cake tin
  • Pot
  • Pastry brush
  • Sharp knife
  • Rolling pin (if you're making your own almond paste)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ Wikipedia

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