Birthday Battenberg Recipes

BATTENBERG CAKE

Steps:

• If you are using a special Battenberg tin that comes with dividers to make four strips of sponge, grease and line the tin with butter and baking paper. Alternatively, you can make your own: cut a 20 x 28cm rectangle of parchment-lined foil, set it paper-side up on the worktop and fold it in half along the long length. Open it out, then push the centrefold upwards to make a pleat 4cm high. Crease it firmly, then press the parchment-lined foil sheet with the centre pleat onto the base of greased tin to line it - the pleat will run down the centre of the tin to divide it into two separate sections each 20 × 10cm. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
• To make the sponge, put the butter into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food-mixer and beat until creamy with a wooden spoon or the whisk attachment. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and whisk in the sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl where mixture has splattered up, then beat really well for a couple of minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again to get any stray mixture.
• Break the 2 medium eggs into a separate bowl, add the 2 drops of almond extract and beat with a fork until broken up, then gradually beat into the butter mixture a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the 100g self-­raising flour with each of the last two additions of egg to prevent the mixture from curdling.
• Sift the remaining flour, a good pinch of salt and 50g ground almonds into the bowl. Add the 2 teaspoons milk and carefully fold everything together with a large metal spoon. Transfer half the mixture (for this cake it's best to do this by weight, to be really accurate) into a clean bowl. Add the pink or red food colouring a few drops at a time to one portion, mixing it in really well so that it turns pink with no coloured streaks.
• 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. Carefully spread each portion so that the surface is level and the corners are evenly filled.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sponges are well risen. Check the cake is cooked - it should be springy when gently pressed. Set the tin on a wire rack. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the sponges, then leave to cool until barely warm. Carefully turn out onto the wire rack and peel off the lining paper - the cakes will still be fragile so handle them gently - then leave until cold.
• To assemble the cake, set the sponges on a chopping board. If you used the square tin to bake two sponges, cut each sponge in half lengthways using a serrated bread knife to make four strips of cake - two pink and two yellow. Trim all the strips so that the short sides are exactly square as they may have risen unevenly.
• Make sure the worktop is spotlessly clean and crumb-free, then dust it lightly with icing sugar or cornflour. Knead the 350g white marzipan for a minute so that it is supple, then roll it out to a neat 20 x 30cm rectangle.
• Heat the apricot jam with 1 tablespoon of cold water then push it through a sieve to make a smooth puree. Brush one long side of a pink strip very lightly with jam and set it jam-side down on one short side of the marzipan rectangle, lined up next to the edge. Brush the three other long sides of this piece of cake lightly with jam.
• Now brush one long side of a yellow cake strip with jam and set it jam-side down onto the marzipan next to the pink strip and touching it. Brush the top of this strip with jam.
• Set the other yellow strip on top of the pink strip that is in place on the marzipan.
• Lightly brush one long side of the second pink strip with jam and set it next to this second yellow strip, so that it sits on top of the yellow strip that's on the marzipan. You will now have created the familiar checkerboard pattern.
• To finish the cake, brush the top and long sides of the assembled cake with the apricot jam (gently re-warmed), then roll the cake or wrap the marzipan neatly around and over the cake, leaving the checkerboard ends visible. Press the marzipan join to seal it (it should be along one bottom edge). Gently smooth the marzipan with your hands to neaten it up and press out any air pockets, then trim the ends and crimp the top edges of the marzipan by pinching it gently at regular intervals.
• Dust lightly with icing sugar just before serving.Photography: David Munns © Hodder & Stoughton

BATTENBURG CAKE

Steps:

• Cream butter and 1 cup sugar together. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt gently. Add milk if needed.
• Divide batter into 2 equal parts. Add food coloring to 1 part to make a deep pink color. Grease two 7 inch square pans. Spread batters into pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand in pans 5 minutes. Turn out on racks to cool.
• Trim edges from both cakes. Cut each cake lengthwise into 4 strips as wide as the cake is thick. Trim to make strips match. Heat jam slightly. Spread on sides to glue 2 pink and 2 white strips together checkerboard fashion. Spread all 4 sides of completed cake with jam. Repeat with remaining pink and white stripes. Makes two cakes.
• To Make Almond Paste: Mix almonds, confectioners' sugar, egg, lemon juice, and almond extract together. Knead until smooth, adding a bit of lemon juice or water if too dry to roll. Add only 1/2 teaspoon at a time. It will be stiff. Divide into 2 equal parts.
• Roll 1/2 of paste 1/8 inch or so thick on a surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar. Cut to fit length of cake, and long enough to cover 4 sides leaving ends uncovered. Lay cake on one end of paste. Wrap to completely enclose all 4 sides of cake pinching paste to seal. Roll in granulated sugar. Place with seal underneath on serving plate, or store in plastic bag. Repeat for second cake. Chill. Slice thinly to serve.

BATTENBERG RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350f. Line the base and sides of two 20cmx20cm square baking tins with baking parchment.
• Place the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat, using the whisk attachment, until smooth.
• Divide the mixture into two (weigh it out to ensure it's even). Add the almond extract and the yellow food colouring to one bowl and mix together.
• Add the pink food colouring to the other bowl and mix. You want a vibrant yellow and pink colour, so add a little more colouring if required.
• Spoon one of the mixtures into one tin, and the other into the other tin. Smooth the top and ensure the cake batter is spread into the corners. Place in the oven and and bake for 25-30 mins until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Time to assemble. Roll out one of the marzipan blocks on a surface that's been dusted with LOTS of confectioners' sugar. It needs to be a little more than 20cm wide, and long enough to wrap around the cake (about 40cm).
• Heat the apricot jam in a small pan (or microwave for a few seconds) until runny.
• Take one of the cakes and trim the sides and top so that cooked edges are cut off (you can leave the bottom). Cut the sponge into four long fingers - ensuring the height and width of each finger is equal.
• Repeat with the other sponge.
• Brush centre of the rolled marzipan with apricot jam (see picture), then lay a yellow sponge finger on top.
• Brush the side of the yellow sponge, and stick a pink sponge finger to it. Brush the top of the two sponge fingers with jam and place the other two fingers on top (with jam in between those two fingers), so you have a checkerboard effect.
• Spread jam on the rest of the marzipan then fold up the sides - making sure it's quite tight, and well adhered to the sponge.
• Fold the edges back on top of the cake and press them together - like you're sealing a zip-lock bag. Trim the excess marzipan off the top of the cake.
• Check again that everything is well adhered, then slice off both ends of the cake - to give a neat finish.
• Repeat this process for the other cake.
• Turn the cakes over, so the seam is on the bottom, then sprinkle with a little confectioners' sugar and serve.

BATTENBERG CAKE

Steps:

• 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). To make the almond sponge, put the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until the mix comes together smoothly. Scrape into the tin, spreading to the corners, 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 while you make the second sponge.
• For the pink sponge, line the tin as above. Mix all the ingredients together as above, but don't add the almond extract. Fold in some pink food colouring. Then scrape it all into the tin and bake as before. Cool.
• To assemble, heat the jam in a small pan until runny, then sieve. Barely trim two opposite edges from the almond sponge, 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 apricot jam, then lay a pink and an almond slice side by side at one end of the marzipan, 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.

EASIEST EVER BATTENBERG

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Using a double layer of foil, make a barrier down the center of a 20cm square tin (or use a battenberg tin), then line each compartment with 2 pieces of baking parchment. Put all the cake ingredients except the food colouring in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Tip half the cake mixture into one side of the tin. Quickly mix the food colouring into the remaining cake mixture. When you have a smooth and vivid pink colour, scrape this mixture into the other side of the tin, then spread both mixtures to the edges of their sections. Bake for 25-30 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Place the cakes on a chopping board and trim the sides of each one to give you a straight edge. Cut each one in half lengthways to give you 2 pink and 2 plain rectangular sponges, using a ruler if you want to be really exact. If the sponges are a little taller than they are wide, trim some sponge from the tops as well - this will ensure you have a perfect square when you come to assemble the cake.
• Heat the apricot jam in a small pan or the microwave, then sieve it. Lightly dust a work surface with a little icing sugar, then roll out a quarter of the marzipan to a rectangle roughly 20 x 10cm. Brush the surface with the warm apricot jam, then place 1 plain sponge and 1 pink sponge side by side on top, brushing the middle of the cakes with a little jam to stick them together. Brush the top of the cakes with more jam, then place the remaining sponges on top, with more jam in between, in a chequerboard pattern.
• Roll out the remaining marzipan to a rectangle roughly 20 x 25cm. Brush any remaining jam over the outside of the assembled cake. Using a rolling pin to help, lift the marzipan over the cake. Smooth it over the top and sides, and press gently into the corners so it wraps the cake tightly. Trim any excess marzipan about 1cm from the sides of the cake, and trim a thin slice off either end to neaten. To finish, crimp the marzipan around the base by pinching with your finger and thumb.