Desserts from the United Kingdom are more popular than ever, thanks in part to The Great British Baking Show. The bake off has introduced viewers in the States to all kinds of intriguing British recipes like Victoria sponge, Bakewell Tarts and sticky toffee pudding. But one of the most visually stunning bakes is this Battenberg cake recipe.
Word has it that Queen Elizabeth has requested a Battenberg cake for her upcoming platinum jubilee celebration to mark 70 years on the throne. It’s just one of the foods the Queen loves to eat.
What is Battenberg Cake?
Battenberg Cake was created in 1884 as the royal wedding cake for Princess Victoria, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and her husband Prince Louis of the Battenberg family. Though the prince eventually changed his name to Mountbatten during World War I, the name of this cake stayed the same. The most recognizable feature of a British Battenberg cake is the checkerboard pattern inside the slices, traditionally made with pink and yellow cake. The strips of almond-flavored sponge are held together with a generous brushing of apricot jam, then wrapped in a layer of rolled marzipan.
Battenberg cake is one of many classic British foods!
What is marzipan?
This sweet confection is a blend of ground almonds and sugar. Look for tubes of the thick paste stocked in the baking aisle of stores from producers like Odense. Marzipan is thick enough to cover cakes, much like fondant. It’s also used to add sweet almond flavor to other baked goods, like apple tarts.
How to Make Battenberg Cake
This recipe makes a medium-sized cake that will serve about six people. Though there are several steps to making a Battenberg, they’re fairly easy as long as you give yourself enough time for baking, cooling, rolling and assembling.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk, room temperature
- Pink food coloring
Decor:
- 1/3 cup apricot jam or preserves
- 2 packages (6-8 ounces) marzipan
- Confectioners’ sugar (to roll out the marzipan)
Editor’s Tip: You can purchase store-bought marzipan or make it from scratch. It’s surprisingly easy to make marzipan at home!
Tools You’ll Need
- Rolling Pin: This tapered pin makes it easy to roll out the marzipan paste.
- 8×8 Baking Pan: No fancy cake mold necessary! Just use your trusty 8-inch square baking pan.
- Parchment Paper: Use this to line the pan and help divide it into two sections.
Directions
Step 1: Prepare the parchment and foil
Cut a piece of parchment paper to a size of 16×7-1/2 in. Fold the parchment in half by bringing the two short ends together and making a crease in the middle; set aside. Cut a piece of foil to 12×7 in. Bring the two short sides together to fold it in half. Then fold again by the new short side into thirds, to create a 6×2-in. folded piece of foil.
Step 2: Line the pan
Preheat the oven to 350°F and place a rack in the center. Spray the bottom and sides of the baking pan with nonstick spray. Drape the parchment over the baking pan with the crease facing up. Slide the folded foil under the crease. Press the paper down into the pan on either side of the foil so that it sticks to the greased surface of the pan—this will create a dam to divide the pan into two sections. Smooth the paper over the bottom and up the sides, and adjust the dam so it’s sitting in the center of the pan.
Step 3: Blend the flours and butter
Place the flour, almond flour and softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Blend these together on medium speed, scraping as needed, for about 2 minutes until the mixture looks like cookie dough.
Step 3: Finish the batter
Sprinkle the sugar, baking powder and salt over the butter mixture and run the mixer on low until they’re incorporated. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing briefly after each one. Add in the almond and vanilla extracts and milk. Mix the batter for 2 to 3 minutes until the ingredients are incorporated and the batter looks smooth.
Step 4: Add food coloring to half of the batter
Divide the cake batter in half between two bowls. (Measure using a kitchen scale or divide into two glass Pyrex measuring cups so you can see the amounts.) Add a few drops of pink food coloring to one of the bowls and gently stir it through.
Step 5: Add batters to the pan and bake
Pour the pink cake batter into one side of the prepared cake pan, and pour the untinted batter into the other side. Smooth the batter to fill the spaces completely. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 33-35 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. When done, place the pan on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Step 6: Trim the cakes
Once cooled, run a knife around the outside edges of both the pink and yellow cakes. Remove the cakes from the pan, peel off the parchment and put the cakes on a cutting board. Use a serrated knife or sharp chef’s knife to slice across the top of each cake, removing any doming to make the tops flat.
Then, place one cake on top of the other, lining up the edges. Use your knife to slice down along a long edge through both cakes—this is to trim and make both cakes have a clean, even edge. Repeat this on the other long side. (Don’t worry about the short edges for now.) Finally, cut down through the middle of the cakes, parallel to the long side, to cut them in half. This will create four long pieces of cake, two pink and two yellow.
Step 7: Roll out the marzipan
Dust a large cutting board and rolling pin with confectioners’ sugar. Open the marzipan packages and combine them into one large lump of marzipan.
Editor’s Tip: The marzipan is very sticky, so dust your cutting board, hands and pin often, as well as the marzipan. Roll it out gently—every time you do, pick up and rotate the marzipan to make sure it doesn’t stick to the board. Add more confectioners’ sugar underneath as needed. Roll it out to a 1/4-in. thickness.
Step 8: Cut the marzipan
Use a paring knife and ruler to cut a rectangle of marzipan big enough to wrap around the cake.
To measure accurately, stack your cake strips, two on the bottom and two on top. Measure the length of the cake, and add 2 inches—this will be the short side of your rectangle. Measure the width and height of the four sides of your cake: add these together, then add another 2 or 3 inches to account for the thickness of the marzipan—this is the long side of your rectangle.
Keep this marzipan rectangle on your cutting board because the cake will be assembled right on top!
Step 9: Assemble the cake
Warm up the apricot jam in a small dish in the microwave, just until it’s loose enough to brush. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops and long sides of one yellow cake strip and one pink cake strip. Place them top-down on the marzipan rectangle, with the long sides of the cake parallel to the short side of the marzipan, and push them together. Brush these with more apricot jam. Brush the top and sides of the other pink and yellow cake strips and place these on top, yellow on pink and pink on yellow.
Push the pieces all together to make a tight checkerboard pattern. Go over the top and long sides with more jam to make sure they’re coated.
Step 10: Wrap it in marzipan
Fold up the sides of the marzipan rectangle and snugly wrap it over the cake—the marzipan tears easily so be gentle. Fold it up over the top, and press the seams together, trimming away any extra.
When finished, carefully pick up the wrapped cake and turn it over so that the seam sits underneath. Gently smooth out any wrinkles or tears, and use a moistened paper towel to dab away any streaks of confectioners’ sugar.
Step 11: Slice the ends and decorate
Carefully move the wrapped cake to a serving platter. Use a sharp knife to slice off 1/2 inch of each short end; this makes both ends look clean and sharp. You can decorate the top if you wish with molded pieces of marzipan or fresh flowers, or by using a paring knife to decoratively score the marzipan.
Use a sharp knife to cut slices of the cake to serve your guests.
Tips for Making Battenberg Cake
What are some flavor variations of this Battenberg cake recipe?
Though pink and yellow are the traditional colors and almond is the traditional flavor, it’s fun to swap in different flavors. The 2020 season of the Great British Baking Show featured Battenberg cakes for Cake Week and bakers had intriguing cake flavor combinations, like lemon with orange, chocolate espresso, lemon and rose, and pomegranate with pistachio. The cake is a great canvas to blend flavors together.
As judge Prue Leith would remind you, neatness and precision are the most important elements of a Battenberg. No matter how you change up the flavors, assemble and cover your cake carefully to make that picture-perfect checkerboard inside with a smooth finish outside.
What are some ingredient substitutions you can make?
Just as you can change the cake flavor, you can also substitute different flavors of jam. For example, we found that raspberry jam was delicious with the almond cake. Or skip the jam altogether and use frosting between the cake layers instead. If you’re not a fan of almonds in general, use fondant to cover the cake instead, rolling and measuring it the same way as directed above.
How should you store Battenberg cake?
To keep the marzipan and cake from drying out, cover the cake tightly with plastic wrap. The cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. If wrapped very well, the cake can also be frozen for up to one month. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
What can I do with leftover marzipan?
Tightly wrap any leftover marzipan to prevent it from drying out. Keep it in the fridge for 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months. It’s delicious in all kinds of marzipan candy recipes and marzipan cookies!
Jam Roly-Poly
Fond memories surround this classic school lunch dessert. It’s a rolled pudding with layers of fruity jam in every bite. Like most other British desserts, it’s served with hot custard. Our best cake rolls are very similar to this vintage treat. For a twist on the jam roly-poly, try our cinnamon twirl roly poly.
Fruitcake
Fruitcake dates back to the Middle Ages. It was easy to keep for a long time because the alcohol and fruit acted as preservatives (remember there was no refrigeration back then!). Fruitcake has long been the traditional cake at royal weddings and, by the way, here’s what royal wedding cakes have looked like throughout the years. Get Recipe
Knickerbocker Glory
The knickerbocker glory has captured the hearts of British people since the 1930s. It’s a glorious, layered ice cream sundae served in a tall glass with a very long spoon. Here are more ice cream desserts to stick your spoons into.Fruit Fool
This simple dessert consists of custard or whipped cream and fruit. The most popular types of fruit include gooseberries, raspberries and rhubarb. It’s quite easy to whip up, and it looks stunning. Try our Rhubarb Fool with Strawberries.
Syllabub
Similar to the fruit fool, a syllabub is a creamy, fruity bowl of fluff. It’s made with cream, lemon juice and wine, and topped with more fruit, if desired. This dessert actually originated as a drink in the 16th century, and has since been turned into a sweet treat.
Banoffee Pie
The banoffee pie isn’t as old as, say, the syllabub, but it has been around since the 1970s. It was invented by Ian Dowding and Nigel McKenzie, the chef and owner, respectively, of The Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex. The name combines the two main stars of the dessert: bananas and toffee.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
It’s been said that this recipe came from a Canadian Air Force officer during World War II. He asked a hotel manager to make it while he was in Britain. The dessert was soon adopted by another hotel, and its popularity eventually spread to the whole country. You might see it at Kensington Palace, as it is one of Kate Middleton’s favorite foods. Get Recipe
Eton Mess
The story goes that a cook at Eton College dropped a strawberry meringue and still served the messy dessert; hence the name, Eton Mess. Prince William and Prince Harry both attended the all-boy’s school, so they are especially familiar with this dessert. Here are the favorite foods of the royal family.
Bread & Butter Pudding
Poor British families would turn to bread and butter pudding as an inexpensive dessert. It was a great way to use up stale bread instead of throwing it out. It’s unclear whether it originated in the 11th or 17th century, but we do know it was one of Princess Diana’s favorite foods. Get Recipe
Cranachan
The Cranachan is a Scottish dessert that was originally made in the summer after the raspberry harvest. Now that we have refrigeration, it’s made year round. This treat is made with fresh raspberries, whipped cream, honey and steel-cut oats. It almost looks like oatmeal! The traditional way to serve it is to place a bowl of each ingredient on the table for people to create their own.
Treacle Tart
We can’t talk about British desserts without mentioning the treacle tart. “Treacle” refers to syrup and is the star component of this dessert. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, then you’ve certainly heard of this. Here are other magical Harry Potter-inspired recipes.
Figgy Pudding
Figgy pudding has gone through a big transformation throughout the years. It was created in the 14th century as a savory dish made of beef, mutton, raisins and prunes. It became a dessert in the 16th century and is now made with brown sugar, currants, alcohol and spices. Surprisingly, figs aren’t always included in the recipe! This is why we sing about figgy pudding at Christmas.
English Trifle
A traditional English trifle is made with sponge cake, custard, jelly, whipped cream and berries. This stunning-yet-simple dessert has been a favorite of the Brits for over 300 years. Just make sure you don't accidentally combine an English trifle recipe with a shepherd’s pie just Rachel did on Friends! Get Recipe
Arctic Roll
A Czechoslovakian lawyer who fled his homeland during World War II created the arctic roll after moving to Britain. He began selling this frozen dessert in 1958 and it soon became a hit throughout the country. To recreate this dessert, roll a sponge cake layered with raspberry sauce around a log of vanilla ice cream. Slice and enjoy!
Spotted Dick
Puddings are quite popular English desserts and have very interesting names! “Dick” is a common term for pudding, possibly derived from the word “dough.” A spotted dick is a boiled pudding “spotted” with raisins. Who would have thought this was a beloved dessert just by looking at the name! Here are 11 Classic British Foods Explained to Americans.The post How to Make a Battenberg Cake Recipe appeared first on Taste of Home.
source https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-make-battenberg-cake-recipe/
0 Response to "How to Make a Battenberg Cake Recipe"
Post a Comment