Battenberg cake. This fancy almond-flavored tea cake, also called 'Battenberg/Battenburg Cake' or 'Battenberg/Battenburg Square' features a homemade marzipan. Battenberg or Battenburg is a light sponge cake held together with jam. The cake is covered in marzipan and, when cut in cross section, displays a distinctive two-by-two check pattern alternately coloured pink and yellow.
To make the almond sponge, put the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract in a large bowl.
Spoon the uncoloured cake mixture into two sections of the prepared Battenberg tin or into one side of the prepared square tin (check the pleated divider is still straight and dead centre).
Spoon the pink cake mixture into the other two sections of the Battenberg tin or the other section of the prepared square tin.
You can cook Battenberg cake using 12 ingredients and 7 steps. Here is how you achieve that.
Ingredients of Battenberg cake
- You need 175 g of very soft butter.
- You need 175 g of golden caster sugar.
- It's 140 g of self-raising flour.
- It's 50 g of ground almonds.
- Prepare 1/2 tsp of baking powder.
- You need 3 of medium eggs.
- You need 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.
- It's 1/4 tsp of almond extract.
- Prepare of Pink food colouring.
- It's 4 Tbsp of fresh milk.
- Prepare of Jam as required.
- Prepare 1 of Marzipan block.
Legend has it that the cake was created in honor of the marriage of Queen Victoria's. 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. Battenberg cake is made with an almond flavored butter or sponge cake stacked to form a pink and white checkerboard pattern.
Battenberg cake step by step
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment (the easiest way is to cross 2 x 20cm-long strips over the base see in pics)To make the sponge, put the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract and 4tbsp milk in a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until the mix comes together smoothly..
- Divide better equal into 2 bowls and add pink food colour in one bowl and mix well. Then pour both better in cake tin separately and bake for 25-30 mins – when you poke in a skewer, it should come out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- 🌻To assemble: heat the jam in a small pan until runny, trim two opposite edges from the almond sponge, (see in pics) then well trim a third edge. Roughly measure the height of the sponge, then cutting from the well-trimmed edge, use a ruler to help you cut 4 slices each the same width as the sponge height. Discard or nibble leftover sponge. Repeat with pink cake..
- Take 2 x almond slices and 2 x pink slices and trim so they are all the same length. Roll out one marzipan block on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to just over 20cm wide, then keep rolling lengthways until the marzipan is roughly 0.5cm thick..
- Brush with jam, then lay a pink and an almond slice side by side at one end of the marzipan, (see in pics) brushing jam in between to stick sponges, and leaving 4cm clear marzipan at the end. Brush more jam on top of the sponges, then sandwich remaining 2 slices on top, alternating colours to give a checkerboard effect. Trim the marzipan to the length of the cakes..
- Carefully lift up the marzipan and smooth over the cake with your hands, but leave a small marzipan fold along the bottom edge before you stick it to the first side. Trim opposite side to match size of fold, then crimp edges using fingers and thumb (or, more simply, press with prongs of fork). If you like, mark the 10 slices using the prongs of a fork..
- Assemble second Battenberg and keep in an airtight box or well wrapped in cling film for up to 3 days. Can be frozen for up to a month. Enjoy !!! ❤️.
The cake is held together with apricot filling and then wrapped in marzipan. I have added a bit of cherry juice to the pink cake to give it just a mild fruity flavor. Battenberg Cake (Battenburg Cake, Chapel Window Cake) Battenberg cake is a light dessert consisting of alternating, colored squares of genoise sponge coated with an exterior of apricot jam and almond paste. You also won't believe just how easy it is to make yourself which will add to the wow factor when you serve it up to friends and family. This is a dainty little cake tin and it was a snap to make a Battenberg cake!
