How to 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 vanilla 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
  • 2 cups ground almonds
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Making the Cake

  1. How.com.vn English: Step 1 Preheat the oven to 400ºF, 200ºC, or gas mark 6.
  2. How.com.vn English: Step 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.
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  3. Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 5 Pour the colored batter into one side of the tin and pour the non-colored batter into the other side.
  6. Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 8 Measure lengthwise and cut the cakes in half.
  9. How.com.vn English: Step 9 Add apricot jam and water to a pot.
    Heat both ingredients until the jam turns into a liquid.
  10. How.com.vn English: Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 11 Brush the entire outside of the cake with more jam.
  12. How.com.vn English: Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 13 Use a knife or scissors to cut off the extra marzipan.
    Place the finished cake on a plate with the seal down.
  14. How.com.vn English: Step 14 Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving.
  15. How.com.vn English: Step 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.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Making Homemade Almond Paste

  1. How.com.vn English: Step 1 Get a bowl and combine the egg, almond extract, lemon juice, almonds, and confectioners' sugar.
  2. How.com.vn English: Step 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. How.com.vn English: Step 3 Use confectioners' sugar to dust the paste and "working space".
    Roll each paste half to about 1/8 inch or so thick.
  4. How.com.vn English: Step 4 Finished.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    What if you can't find pink food coloring? Can you use a little bit of red food coloring at a pinch?
    How.com.vn English: Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Yes, just don't use at much red as you would pink. Add a little to start and add more if you don't like the color.
  • Question
    Can I color the cake batter any color I want?
    How.com.vn English: Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Yes, if you use food coloring it will still taste the same. For example, if you make vanilla and you make the the batter pink it will still taste like vanilla.
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      Video

      Tips

      • 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]
      • Serve with other afternoon tea treats in similar colors, such as strawberry fairy cakes, strawberry lamingtons and vanilla cupcakes.
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      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)

      References

      1. Wikipedia
      2. AllRecipes.com Battenburg cake recipe, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Battenburg-Cake/Detail.aspx – research source
      3. Battenburg cake on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battenburg_cake – research source

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      17 votes - 94%
      Co-authors: 18
      Updated: August 10, 2021
      Views: 97,699
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