Battenberg cake

Name: Battenberg cake
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Ingredients: 200g of butter; 200g of caster sugar; 4 free-range eggs; 150g of self-raising flour; 50g of ground almonds; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 1/2 tsp red food colouring, paste; 3 tbsp of apricot jam; 500g of marzipan

by Sally Abé

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Dessert
medium
8
1 hour 20 minutes

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Sally shares her battenberg cake recipe, a true teatime classic. It can be tricky to get right, but take your time and keep a steady hand when cutting the cake – the results will be stunning.

First published in 2016

Although the exact origins of battenberg cake are unclear, it is generally believed that it was invented to celebrate the wedding of Louis Battenberg to Princess Victoria 1884. The first records of battenberg actually described a cake with nine squares, and it wasn’t until it began to be industrially produced that the number was scaled down to four. Even with only four squares, this cake is still a real test of precision and technical skill – cutting all of the squares to the same size and encircling in an even layer of marzipan is rather tricky. Speaking from experience, when choosing the red food colouring, make sure you buy a bake-safe gel – the liquid colourings will not work, and powdered berries will end up turning your sponge a lovely hue of purple.

Ingredients

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Imperial

Battenburg

200g of butter
200g of caster sugar
4 free-range eggs
150g of self-raising flour
50g of ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp red food colouring, paste
3 tbsp of apricot jam
500g of marzipan

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy

Add the eggs a little at a time until fully incorporated

Gently fold through the flour and ground almonds, then split the mixture between 2 bowls

Add the enough red food colouring to one half of the mix to create a gentle pink colour

Pour both mixtures into the baking tin – the pink mix on one side and the plain on the other – and bake for 20–25 minutes until a metal skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean

Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into 4 long fingers, roughly 3cm high and 4cm wide. Pay close attention to making sure all of the pieces are exactly the same size by lining them up next to each other – use a sharp serrated knife to help you do this

Gently warm the apricot jam, stirring until smooth, then use a small palette knife to smear onto the edges of the cake slices

Build the slices of cake like a chequerboard, pushing down to stick them together

Roll the marzipan out on a work surface to a thickness of 3-4mm and place the cake in the middle

Trim the marzipan so that there is just enough around the cake to cover it with a small overlap, then fold it up over the sides of the cake and press down to seal up the central 'seam'

Fold the edges of the marzipan over, trimming away any excess

Leave to set up in the fridge for an hour or so before slicing and serving

First published in 2016

Sally Abé

After a five-year stint in the kitchen at two Michelin-starred restaurant The Ledbury, Sally is now head chef at The Harwood Arms in London.

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