Battenburg Cake

Battenburg is a huge favourite in my home and I personally love anything wrapped in marzipan. This is my take on my Granny's recipe and is far easier to make than I had originally thought. I used raspberry jam through the cake rather than the more traditional apricot and my 'pink' turned out rather darker but the definition is clearly there and it tasted amazing. This makes two cakes, neither of which lasted long at all.

Ingredients:
175g butter x2
175g caster sugar x2
140g self raising flour x2
50g ground almonds x2
1/2 tsp baking powder x2
3 medium eggs x2
1/2 tsp vanilla extract x2
1/2 tsp almond extract
1tsp pink food colouring
1 jar seedless raspberry jam
500g block marzipan x2

Method:

Preheat your oven to 160c fan and line an 20cm square tin using two strips of baking paper crossed over at the base. Place one set of the butter, sugar, flour, almonds, baking powder, eggs and vanilla extract into a large bowl along with the almond extract and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and the mixture is glossy and smooth. Pour this into the baking tray making sure to carefully level the top of the cake. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the cake springs back to the touch. Let cool in the tin while you make up the next batter.

Place the second set of ingredients into a large bowl, replacing the almond extract with the food colouring. I would add this a little at a time until the desired colour is reached, you may need slightly more or less depending on the brand used. Remove the first cake from the tin and repeat the process of lining the tin and baking the second cake. If you are lucky enough to have two tins then both cakes can be baked at the same time.

Leave the cakes until they are entirely cool. Use this time to do the washing up and do battle with the marzipan! Take a block of marzipan and warm it between your hands to make it more pliable. Place between two large sheets of baking paper and use a heavy rolling pin to roll the marzipan to approximately 20cm x 20cm and 0.5cm thick, a little extra length and width is great as it can be trimmed off but leaves room for error!

Gently heat the raspberry jam until it becomes runny and easy to work.

Carefully cut each cake into 4 slices approximately the same width. You could use a ruler for this step but I just eyeballed it with surprising success.

Peal the top layer of paper off the marzipan but leave it on the bottom layer as this helps to wrap the cake. Carefully paint the marzipan with jam then place a slice of the almond cake across the middle. Put jam down the side of the slice of cake and gently press in a pink slice. Spread jam over the top of both before placing the second slices over the opposite colour to create the checkerboard look. Carefully wrap the marzipan round the cake using the baking paper to allow you to run your hands over and smooth it all out. Carefully trim the edges of the marzipan to create clean lines then wrap tightly in the paper to help mould and secure the shape.

Repeat this process with the second block of marzipan and the remaining slices of cake.

Each cake makes roughly ten slices and can be frozen for up to a month after baking if there's any left. I would recommend slicing the cake before freezing it for faster defrosting and an easy treat.

This cake looks great and is far easier to make than it looks, it just requires a little time and patience. When you make it please take a picture and tag me at #diaryofadefectivehousewife