Battenberg Cake — pink-and-yellow chequered marzipan cake

i. Origin & history

Battenberg cake was reportedly created in 1884 to celebrate the marriage of Princess Victoria (granddaughter of Queen Victoria) to Prince Louis of Battenberg. The four squares are said to represent the four Battenberg princes.

ii. Ingredients

Makes 10 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 200 g unsalted butter, soft
• 200 g caster sugar
• 200 g self-raising flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pink food colour
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 60 g ground almonds
• 200 g apricot jam, warmed
• 500 g marzipan
• Icing sugar for rolling

iii. Method

1. Heat oven to 170 °C. Line a 20 cm square tin with parchment, dividing it down the middle with a foil strip.
2. Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs; fold in flour, ground almonds.
3. Divide batter in half. Mix one half with vanilla and almond extract. Tint the other pink.
4. Spread vanilla in one half of the tin; pink in the other. Bake 25-30 min. Cool.
5. Trim each cake to a long, even strip. Cut each lengthwise to give 4 long bars (2 pink, 2 yellow).
6. Brush with warmed apricot jam. Stack into a 2×2 chequer pattern.
7. Roll marzipan thin. Brush the cake all over with jam; wrap with the marzipan; trim. Slice to reveal the chequer.

iv. Tips & common mistakes

• Use the freshest ingredients you can. The recipe relies on them.
• Read the method through first. Several steps must be ready in advance.
• Season patiently. Sweetness and salt are tuned at the end, not the start.

v. Variations

Classic Battenberg is pink and yellow with apricot jam. Chocolate Battenberg uses chocolate and vanilla sponges. Lemon Battenberg uses lemon and vanilla.

vii. More from British & Irish

• Marzipan — foundational almond paste
• Prinsesstarta — Swedish princess cake
• Punschkrapfen — rum-pink Viennese petit fours
• Strawberry Shortcake — strawberry sponge
• Queen Cake — Spanish pound cake
• Blotkake — Norwegian celebration cream