Blitzkrieg Cake Recipes

TRADITIONAL BRITISH BATTENBERG CAKE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• In a large baking bowl beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
• Slowly add the eggs, continuing to beat with the butter and sugar mix; resist the temptation to add the eggs too fast to avoid curdling the cake.
• Add the vanilla extract and stir.
• Sift the flour into the baking bowl, along with the milk, and continue beating until smooth.
• Place half of the mixture in another bowl, add the food coloring a little at a time until you have a color you like. Stir well.
• Grease a 6-inch square cake tin and divide into two by placing a thick layer of aluminum foil down the center. Put the pink mixture on one side and the plain cake on the other.
• Place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
• Cut each cake to the same size, then cut each cake in half lengthways.
• Take a pink cake and brush one side with the warmed jam. Place a yellow piece next to it, jam side together and push gently together.
• Brush the top surface with jam and place a piece of yellow cake atop a pink piece and vice versa.
• Brush all the outside edges with more jam.
• Brush the rolled marzipan with a little jam and wrap it all around the cake, hiding the seam underneath. Trim away any excess.
• Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Serve and enjoy!

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.

BERRY BLITZ TORTE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two round 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Grease the paper, then lightly flour the pans.
• In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
• Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or electric beaters, beat 1/2 cup softened butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating, until well combined. Add half the cake flour mixture, then half the milk to the butter mixture, beating until smooth. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk, then beat in vanilla and nutmeg. Scrape batter evenly into prepared pans and smooth the tops.
• To make meringue topping, whip egg whites with cream of tartar and salt in an electric mixer until cloudlike and very foamy. Continue whipping while adding sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip until meringue is smooth and glossy, and stiff peaks form.
• Cover cake batter with meringue, dividing it evenly between pans. Swirl the tops, and sprinkle with pecans. Bake until meringue is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center all the way down to the cake emerges clean, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack. Cool for 30 minutes; turn cake out of pan and place on rack right-side up. Let cakes cool completely.
• To assemble, whip the cream with as much of the sugar as you like, and vanilla. Place one cake layer on a serving plate with the meringue side down. Spoon whipped cream on top, then cover with berries. Place second cake layer on top of whipped cream with meringue side up. Serve cake as soon as possible after filling, preferably within 3 hours, and use a serrated knife to cut.

BLITZKRIEG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F, have ready a greased and floured 8-inch cake pan.
• In a saucepan over high heat, combine water, brown sugar, raisins, shortening and the spices; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
• Turn off heat, remove pot from burner, and let cool to lukewarm.
• In a mixing bowl, stir together flour and baking soda; blend flour mixture into cooled raisin mixture.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until top is firm to the touch.
• Let cake cool before serving; if desired, sprinkle top with icing sugar.

THE CLASSIC ITALIAN BLITZKRIEG BALL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Saute the garlic and onions over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Set aside and let cool.
• Combine the parsley, ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, the salt, oregano and pepper in a bowl. Add the onion and garlic mixture with the beef, breadcrumbs, eggs and carrots. Mix gently by hand, being careful not to over-mix.
• Roll out 21 meatballs by hand and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the marinara sauce in a saucepan.
• Arrange the meatballs on a platter and top with the marinara sauce and remaining Parmesan.

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.

BLITZ TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter two 9-by-2-inch round baking pans. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.
• Make the cake: Place butter, sugar, salt, and egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour, buttermilk, vanilla, and baking powder, until well blended.
• Divide batter between prepared pans (the batter will barely cover the bottom of the pans).
• Make the meringue topping: In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. While continuing to whisk, gradually add 1 cup sugar and whisk until meringue is smooth, glossy, and somewhat stiff, but not holding a stiff peak.
• Spread the meringue on top of the cake batter, and sprinkle evenly with almonds, cinnamon, and remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake cakes until lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife or offset spatula, gently remove cakes from pans, and return the rack to cool completely. If some of the almonds fall off during this process, sprinkle them back on top.
• Make the filling: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk, orange juice, and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup. Add milk mixture to the saucepan, along with butter. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Continue to cook until it comes to a boil. Let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
• Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Stir in orange zest and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.
• Place one of the cake layers, meringue-side up, on a serving plate. Spread with pastry cream. Top with second cake layer, meringue-side up. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving, up to 3 hours.