Battenberg Cake

 

Below is an article about the dessert known as Battenberg Cake:

BATTENBERG CAKE

One of the most popular dishes served during a British afternoon tea has been the dessert known as the Battenberg Cake. The latter is a light sponge cake with different sections held together with apricot jam. And it is also covered in marzipan. When cut in a cross section, the cake displays a distinctive four-paneled check pattern alternately colored pink and yellow.

The Battenberg Cake did originate in Great Britain. However, no one really knows the exact identity of the dessert's creator(s). However, many believe the cake had been created and named in honor of the 1884 wedding between Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse and Prince Louis of Battenberg. The couple happened to be the maternal grandparents of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. However, the cake originally displayed a nine-paneled check pattern, instead of four. According to some food historians, the Battenberg Cake did not display a four-paneled pattern until after World War II.

Some food histories have dismissed the claim that the cake had been created in honor of the Hesse-Battenberg wedding. According to the Food History Jottings blog, a man named Robin Weir had discovered an illustrated recipe for an identical cake named Gateau à la Domino or the Domino Cake in a July 1898 edition of the Victorian food and housekeeping magazine, The Table, published and edited by a Mrs. Agnes Berthe Marshall. The latter's recipe for Domino Cake had appeared in 1898, the same year in which food writer Frederick Vine had published the recipe for Battenburg Cake in his book, "Cakes and How to Make Them" and Robert Well's recipe for a dessert called the Neapolitan Roll was published. In appearance, Vine's recipe for Battenberg Cake is identical to Marshall's with nine panes of alternate pink and white Genoise (sponge cake) enclosed in an overcoat of almond paste. Well's Neapolitan Roll, on the other hand, with its four panes is closer to the modern version of the Battenburg Cake.

Below is a recipe for the modern version of the Battenberg Cake in the Food52 website:


Battenberg Cake

Ingredients

Sponge Cake
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup milk, divided
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Red food coloring

Marzipan & Assembly
2 cups almond meal
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup apricot jam


Preparation

Sponge Cake
*Place a rack in the middle of the oven; heat to 350°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan. Cut out a piece of parchment paper to divide the batter in half down the middle. Fold a strip in half and fold out the flaps at the bottom to look like an upside-down T (see the photos above). This will keep both batters separate from one another while the cake bakes.

*In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream the sugar and butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

*In a medium bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and gently mix to combine. Add half of the milk and mix to combine. Repeat adding the flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour mixture. Mix in the almond extract.

*Evenly divide the batter between 2 bowls (I like to use a scale). Color one batter with a few drops of red food coloring. Pour into the prepared pan, with the plain batter on one side and the pink batter on the other. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Marzipan & Assembly
*In a large bowl, combine the almond meal, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar. Mix well to combine. Add the egg and almond extract and mix until the mixture starts to bind together. Knead with your hands until the marzipan is smooth. Shape into a rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until ready to use.

*Trim the ends, top, and sides of the cakes so they're the same size. Slice each cake in half lengthwise to make 4 long rectangles.

*Warm the jam in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Press through a fine-mesh sieve. Brush the long side of one of the cakes with jam. Sandwich it together with a cake of the opposite color. Brush the tops of both cakes with jam and top with a piece of cake of the opposite color. Brush the jam on the inside long edge to make the cake stick together. Brush the top and sides of the cake with jam.

*Roll out the marzipan between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a large rectangle about ¼ inch thick. The rectangle should be large enough to wrap around the cake completely, leaving the ends uncovered. You can measure the width of cake with a piece of string and roll out the marzipan to the same size, trimming the sides for a neat finish.

*Place the cake upside down on the marzipan rectangle and wrap with the marzipan, pressing the sides gently to adhere. Try and have the marzipan seal in the bottom corner of the cake and press the edges together. Turn the cake upright and trim the marzipan on each end of the cake, if there's any excess.