Thursday 2 December 2010

Battenberg Cake


The origin of the name is not clear, but one theory claims that the cake was created in honour of the marriage in 1884 of Queen Victoria's granddaughter to Prince Louis of Battenberg , with the four squares representing the four Battenberg princes: Louis, Alexander, Henry and Francis Joseph.

Battenberg cake is a light sponge cake. When cut in cross section, displays a distinctive two-by-two check pattern alternately coloured pink and yellow. The cake is covered in marzipan and, when sliced, the characteristic checks are exposed to view. These coloured sections are made by dyeing half of the cake mixture pink, and half yellow, then cutting each resultant sponge into two long, uniform cuboids, and joining them together with apricot jam, to form one cake. Established variations are for coconut flavouring to the sponge cake and lemon curd or raspberry jam in place of apricot jam.

You can make this cake without the special pan, but then you just have to slice them .
And me and slicing never go that good, as I know for sure I would not slice properly so I have been waiting to buy this pan for a while.
This time I made Vanilla flavoured cake and colored one half oink, next time I am gonna try diferent flavours like Vanilla and Chocolate too.

I used the recipe which was there together with the pan.
175 gm (60 ozs ) butter
175 gm (60 ozs) sugar I used only 130 gm sugar3 eggs
175 gm (60 ozs ) selfraising flour
2 tsp vanilla essence
Few drops of pink colouring
6 tbsp Apricot jam
350 gm Marzipan
Sugar for dusting

Method
Pre heat the oven to 180° c ( 350 F) Gas mark 6; grease and flour the Battenburg pan.
Cream together the butter and sugar and vanilla untill light and creamy.
Gragually add the beatern eggs.
Fold in the flour.
Divide the mixture into tow equal halves.
Put a few drops of pink color into one of the mixture and gentley mix intill an even colour is achieved.
Spoon the pink mixture into the two section of the tin, and the plain mixture into the other two sections.
Place in the center of the oven and bake for approximatley 30 - 35 minutes or untill evenly coloured and firl to touch.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
If the cake has rissen above the tin, use a sereated knife to cut accross the top to remove the excess cake. Remove the cake from the tin.

When completley cold, brush the abpricot jam onto the side and  join one plain and one pink slice together and then one pink and one plain on top creating a chequered pattern.
Now brush the apricot jam over the long sides.

Roll out the marzipan on some sugar making a rectangle approx 20 x 30 cm. Neaten the edges.
Place the cake into the marzipan so the one edge is lined up to the edge of the marzipan and completley wrap the marzipan around the cake.
Trim away any surplus marzipan to make a neat cake, just trim bith ends with a clean knife.
For me covering the marzipan was the most difficult part of making this cake.


62 comments:

Gloria Baker said...

This look absolutely beautiful dear Happy Cook, I love it! gloria

Bong Mom said...

This is so very cute HC. Loved it

arundati said...

very cute! i can just imagine a chocolate and strawberry contrast! yumm for the colours and the flavours!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

This is such a beautiful cake, never seen one like this before.

Umm Mymoonah said...

This looks so cute, my little girls will love these pink delights.

Ann said...

That is a VERY cute cake, looks perfect! I like the pink and white combo too!

Swapna said...

Cute cake Finla :)...I too have a similar recipe in one of my book...

Shah cooks said...

someday, i want to come over and have all ur baked goodies around me to just take in their beauty and sample.:)gorgeous!!!

Yours Truly said...

ohh dear that looks so amazing...i was sold by the time you said marzipan....looks lovely and spongy. beautiful work! once again the English have enlightened me, this time in a good way lol!

Divya Kudua said...

Oh my..this cake looks so cute..love the patterns..I've been eyeing the Checkerboard pan for a while..hmmm!!

Jaya M said...

Lovely cake.I like apricot jam so it will work fine for me :-)..hugs and smiles

Laavanya said...

How cool is that? This must be such a hit with kids too :) Makes for a very pretty presentation.

Angie's Recipes said...

wow this looks really cool! So is the mould!

Nithya said...

beautiful looking cake.. would love to have it :) colorful :)

Cham said...

Great to know the story behind this pretty checker board cake! The pink is marvelous!

Priya Suresh said...

Cute looking checker cake..never seen that cake tin before..Have to check it out..

Radhika @ foodfor7stages said...

Gorgeous is an understatement. I am in love with it.

Torviewtoronto said...

beautifully decorated delicious cake

AJ said...

Great looking loaf!!

Unknown said...

Ultra yummy looking cake!!Loved the the pink and white combo..

Sumi said...

OMG!! very pretty Cake.would love to have a slice.Even Iam not good at slicing, I think it will be perfect if we have the special pan.

Sumi said...

OMG!! very pretty Cake.would love to have a slice.Even Iam not good at slicing, I think it will be perfect if we have the special pan.

Soma said...

This looks so amazing. The patterns in the cake always start that fear factor in me and I can never figure out how they look so pretty. Love the apricot jam and the marzipan.

Reeni said...

The cake is stunning! So pretty! And I've never been one to resist marzipan!

indosungod said...

Looks delicious HC. I have seen this cakes and always wondered about how to make them and here you are .

Pavani said...

Looks soooo fancy.. Lovely pics.. Delicious.

Sukanya Yogesh said...

Looks so yummy and colorful. You can sell these cakes they look so neat.

suvi said...

such a cute looking cake! My daughter will absolutely love this one :)

amna said...

i want that pan!!!

Jayashree said...

What a pretty cake, F....

Kurinji said...

Wow awesome!!!!

Sanjeeta kk said...

Wow! Wish I could get a pan like yours and bake this delicious looking cake asp, Finla. Lovely color and texture.

Akila said...

superb cake dear....

Learning-to-cook
Event: Dish Name Starts with D

Regards,
Akila

Anonymous said...

Finla,

loved the pink int he cake and the entire concept of making the cake. If I buy any more baking utensils, I will have myself moved out of my own home!!!
I am guessing the marzipan acts as an outer layer in holding uyp the cake together....Imagine making a 4 coloured cake???!!! Possibilities are endless!!!

Shobha
Shobha

chef and her kitchen said...

That loaf looks really gorgeous n yummy...perfect color medley

sra said...

I remember when I was just beginning to get interested in cooking and baking, these kind of cakes used to fascinate me a lot. And I never knew till now there were special pans to bake them - I used to read all those instructions about how to bake and cut the cake so that the design would appear, and then of course, never make it all all. I used to bake marble cakes more frequently, though, because you didn't have to be precise with it.

Namitha said...

Oh my !! eyecandy ! Seeing something like this for the first time..

Ivy said...

It's the first time I've heard of this cake but it looks beautiful.

Sushma Mallya said...

wow I just loved the very look at it :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That old-fashioned cake is so pretty! I'd love to have such apan. Well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

shifa firoz said...

gorgeous cake :)

indianspicemagic said...

Absolutely delicious

Cakelaw said...

This is stunning HC - I have always wanted to make one of these and not been game.

Sunshinemom said...

Knew about the cake but not about the pan! Must be a boon. I have made this much before I began the blog and it was a version with eggs. Very tasty one. I am bad with slicing too:). Your cake looks absolutely mouthwatering.

Kathleen said...

This cake is absolutely stunning!

Unknown said...

Wow this looks sensational! I love the colors... all so pretty.

Gloria Baker said...

Dear happy cook only to say you I have a little porblem in my post, I have to erase other comment and ..lost your comment, sorrryy!! But I appreciate always your comment anyway I answer your comment, sorry, x gloria

Peggy said...

This is such a beautiful cake! You did a great job with this one!

Joyti said...

Those are so adorable! And I bet delicious too.

Santosh Bangar said...

looking so beautiful. tempting
1st time here wonderful recipes.do visit my blog

lissie said...

delicious cake...my favorite! but never knew there is a tray specially for making it..

Sarah Naveen said...

oh wow!! Beautiful clicks.. looks so delicious..loved it..

Bharathy said...

cake is soooooper pretty, girl!!.

LOL reading ur comment.. :D :D

I think u dont have bloggers in your vicinity.. :)..thats why..:)..anyways your neighbour blogger if any would end up getting treats from YOU..;) ;)

seriously thinking of shifting near you ;) ;)!

Juliana said...

Wow, what a cute looking cake, love the way you presented and the colors are just so inviting :-) Beautiful!

Sum Raj said...

wooo thats tooooooo good dear..kids will surly fall in love with this cake..

Bombay-Bruxelles said...

Looks absolutely fabulous! Love your cake.

Rachel said...

very beautiful.. I have a reason now to buy that pan.

ST said...

Mouthwatering and lovely Cake:)

Ananda said...

oh these look absolutely adorable :)

Tiy said...

I love this recipe and your pan!

Deborah said...

How gorgeous! That is absolutely beautiful!

Raks said...

Wow,amazing it looks! Donno how I missed this post! Looks so pretty:)