Battenberg cake

Баттенберг (Battenberg cake) — бисквитный торт с марципановой глазурью. Выпекается из двух коржей: один розового, другой жёлтого цвета. Коржи разрезаются и скрепляются абрикосовым джемом между собой так, чтобы на срезе получилась характерная для баттенбергского торта шахматная клетка розового и жёлтого цвета.

По одной из версий торт получил своё название в честь бракосочетания в 1884 году внучки королевы Великобритании Виктории принцессы Виктории Гессенской с принцем Людвигом Баттенбергом. Каждая шахматная клетка якобы символизировала четырёх Баттенбергов: Людвига, Александра, Генриха и Франца Иосифа.

Due to anti-German resentment in Britain during the First World War, Prince Louis anglicised his name from Battenberg to Mountbatten; however the cake named after him continued to be called a Battenberg.

Battenberg Cake

150 grams of butter 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 3/4 cups of white sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups of plain white flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 cup of milk, approximately red food colouring 1/4 cup of apricot jam 250 grams of almond paste / fondant to cover Pre-heat oven to 175 degC.

Line sponge roll or shallow square cake tin with baking paper. Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Sift the flour, baking powder and fold into the creamed mixture. Add sufficent milk to give a soft dropping consistency. Spoon half the mixture into one half of the prepared tin as neatly as possible. Add a few drops of red food colouring to the remaining mixture to turn it a pink colour, then spoon this into the other half of the tin, try to get the join between the two mixtures as neat as possible.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and has shrunk slightly from the sides of the tin.

Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Trim the edges of the cake and then cut into 4 equal strips down the length of the colours.

Gently heat the apricot jam in a small pan and stick the stripes of cake together, one plain piece next to one coloured one, and then vice versa to make a checker board effect.

Brush the top of the assembled cake with apricot jam. Roll out the almond paste into a rectangle the length of the cake and sufficiently wide to wrap around the cake.

Invert the cake on to the almond paste, then brush the remaining 3 sides with apricot jam. Press the almond paste neatly around the cake, arranging the join in one corner.

Serve in slices.