Battenberg cake is a classic British cake. Made from 2 colors of almond sponge cake, it is arranged in a block pattern and layered with apricot jam and wrapped in marzipan. There are special cake pans you can use to make Battenberg cake. If you want very crisp edges and perfectly sized layers, I’d recommend it. You can also do what I did and just use an 8×8 cake pan divided by foil and parchment to make 2 cakes you cut in half. The layers don’t come out quite as perfectly symmetrical, but it tastes the same and you don’t need a special pan.
We loved this cake. It reminded me a bit of one of our favorites – Italian Rainbow Cookies. The flavor is a similar almond/apricot, but with marzipan instead of chocolate. It is not super sweet, which we loved. We finished this in less than 24 hours. 🙂 The almond cake was really good on its own too. I’d like to make a version with just a glaze or a thin layer of frosting. We gobbled up the edges I trimmed.
I used my favorite red food coloring to dye the cake and marzipan here. It has none of that weird taste you can get with cheaper food dye and it colors with relatively little coloring added.
Battenberg Cake
Equipment
- 1 8×8 cake pan or battenberg pan
- foil and parchment for dividing the pan if using 8×8
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 8.5 tbsp unsalted butter room temp
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 2 drops almond extract
- 2/3 cup self rising flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup ground almonds
- 2 tsp milk or water
- few drops pink or red food coloring
To finish:
- powdered sugar for rolling
- 14 oz marzipan
- 1/2 cup apricot jam warmed and passed through a strainer to remove large chunks
Instructions
- If you have a battenberg pan, grease it and line with parchment. If using an 8×8 cake pan, spray with baker's joy, then cut a piece of parchment and then foil to an 8×12 inch rectangle. Fold up the center of the rectangle by 2 inches and crease well so that you have an 8×8 square with a ridge down the center. This will divide your two colors of cake. Place into the your 8×8 pan and spray the whole thing well with baker's joy or oil spray.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add the almond extract and continue beating a bit longer. Make sure the scrape down the sides as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fluffy in between.
- Add in the ground almonds and salt and mix well on medium speed. Add the flour and mix on low until combined, then add in the 2 tsp of liquid and mix well, but briefly.
- Separate the mixture into two equal portions – this is easiest using a scale. Color one side with a little pink or red coloring. Pour one color of cake into each side of the pan, and smooth evenly. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes or so until the cake is lightly browning and it is springy and a toothpick comes out clean in the center.
- Remove to a rack to cool. When cool, remove gently and if you used the 8×8 pan, cut each cake in half lengthwise, so you have 4 strips, 2 of each color.
- To assemble the cake, thin your jam with a tbsp of water and heat it until it is loose, then put it through a strainer to remove any large chunks.
- On a clean work surface, sprinkle a little powdered sugar and then knead your marzipan with a little food coloring to get it the color you want. Roll it out, using powdered sugar as necessary to prevent sticking into an 8×12 rectangle.
- Using a pastry brush, brush one side of one of the cake strips and place down length wise on the short end of the marzipan sheet. Brush all 3 other sides of the cake with jam, then repeat with a strip of the opposite color, placing it next to the first. Do the same for the other two, placing them on top of the existing strips but on the opposite color. Cover the outside of the cake with jam, then gently roll the marzipan around the cake and trim it so that the edges overlap slightly and crimp together this edge will be the bottom. If needed, crimp or trim the edges where the cake is visible to make it look neat. Cut into slices to serve. Store at room temp, covered by plastic wrap so the marzipan doesn't dry out.