I've had a massive craving for battenberg cake for weeks, likely due to it appearing as a challenge in the first week of the latest series of the Great British Bake Off on tv, but somehow I only got around to making one last week. It was definitely worth the wait though. I bloody love a battenberg and to be honest it's a wonder I don't make them more often. A homemade battenberg cake is rather lovely.
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I initially had plans for a fancier flavour combination, such as chocolate and orange, but the urge to make a classic pink and yellow chequered almond sponge was too strong. I'm so glad I went down the classic route, it was so yummy! As with most almond bakes I also found it tasted even better the following day.
It's not the neatest of battenberg cakes, but I'm amazed it turned out looking this presentable. Despite thinking I had coated my work surface liberally with icing sugar to stop the marzipan from sticking when rolling out, my marzipan stuck really badly. There were a few tense minutes of me very carefully unpeeling it from the table so I could wrap it around the cake. Somewhat miraculously I only ended up with couple of small tears and they were easily covered with marzipan flowers which I made from little stamp cutters from the left overs. Regardless of the tears, I think I'll use these cutters again on a battenberg cake as they make a really cute decoration. Also, it's fun to use the cutters and I feel bad about rarely using them!
Now that I've finally made a battenberg cake my thoughts have fully turned to festive bakes. I've spent the last couple of years making the same few things, but I'd really like to try some new recipes this year. I've bookmarked a couple so far, hopefully I'll get around to it.
Anyone else got festive bakes on the brain? I'd love to hear what other folk are planning to make.
Battenberg cake
Recipe from "Vintage Cakes" by Jane Brocket.
175g soft butter (I used Stork baking margarine)
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs
A few drops of almond extract
150g self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
40g ground almonds
Pink food colouring gel (A few drops to achieve your desired colour)
A couple of heaped tablespoons of your desired jam (recipe suggests apricot, I used raspberry)
500g pack of marzipan
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper. Create a divider for the tin using a strip of card (such a cereal box) cut the same length as the inside of the tin. You want it to fit snugly so your two cake mixtures stay separate whilst baking. Cover the card in a sheet tin foil (so the card doesn't burn) and then again with greaseproof paper so the cake batter doesn't stick to it either.
Whisk together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the almond extract.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Add the ground almonds and mix. Tip this dry mixture into the wet egg mixture and gently fold together until everything is combined.
Divide the mixture equally into 2 bowls (I weighed mine and they were roughly 325g each.) Pour one mixture into one half of the cake tin and mix a few drops of the pink food colouring into the other. Mix until the colour is well distributed and your desired shade of pink and pour into the other half of the tin.
Bake the cake on the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 25 minutes (although I think mine took longer, like 30-35 minutes) until well risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack before lifting the two sponges out the tin.
Once cool, cut both sponges in half length ways and trim all edges so they're all the same length and have straight sides. Eat the off cuts, they're baker's perks!
Dust your work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan to the length of your cake and long enough so that it fully wraps around the cake. (About 45cm long.)
Warm the jam gently in a small pan over the hob then with a blunt knife or pastry brush, put the jam onto the sides of the pink and plain sponges. Assemble them in a chequerboard fashion and place in the centre of the rolled out marzipan. Brush with more jam, to make sure it is all held together and brush all the sides to make sure the marzipan sticks to the cake.
Wrap the marzipan around the cake, pressing it gently but firmly so the jam sticks. Overlap the marzipan over the top to make a seam (which will become the base) and trim with a sharp knife. Also trim the ends to make the cake look tidy. Leave plain, crimp the edges of the marzipan or cut out decorations with any left over marzipan.