Peek-a-boo battenberg cake
When I first saw this cake in the test kitchen back in 2013, I was blown away by it – a simple exterior hides checkerboard battenberg sponges, flavoured with almond and rose. Not only does it look great, it tastes divine. Ideal as a birthday cake, or centrepiece for a Mother’s Day afternoon tea.
SERVES 12 15 PREP 1 hr 20 mins plus cooling and chilling COOK 1 hr A CHALLENGE G sponge only
For the almond sponge
225g soft salted butter, plus extra for the tin
225g golden caster sugar 225g self-raising lour
85g ground almond
3 large eggs
tsp vanilla extract
tsp almond extract
1 tbsp milk
For the rose sponge
225g soft salted butter
225g golden caster sugar 225g self-raising lour
85g ground almond
3 large eggs
tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rosewater 1 tbsp milk a little pink food colouring For the decoration
340g jar apricot jam
1 tsp rosewater icing sugar, for dusting
2 x 500g packs white marzipan
1 Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Butter two 18cm round cake tins and line with baking parchment. 2 Tip all the ingredients for the almond sponge into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth. Divide the batter equally between the tins and bake for 30 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 15 mins, then turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling.
3 Clean the tins, then butter and line as above. Beat together all the ingredients for the rose sponge, except the food colouring. Once smooth, add the colouring bit by bit until you get a deep colour – it will fade a little in the oven, so be bold. Divide between the tins, bake and leave to cool as above. Cover and chill the cakes for 30 mins to make cutting them easier and neater.
4 If the sponges have domed in the centre, trim to flatten. Use a biscuit cutter or make a template to cut a 6cm circle out of the centre of each sponge. Set aside, then cut a 12cm circle from the centre around the hole that has been created. You should now have a 6cm circle, a 12cm ring and an 18cm ring.
5 Slot the pieces back together, but alternating between the di erent colours to give you four layers of sponge that look like targets.
6 Heat the apricot jam to melt, then push through a sieve and stir in the rosewater. Brush some over the top of one of the sponges and top with an alternating sponge. Repeat to stack up all the layers. Put the cake on a serving plate or cake stand.
7 Dust your work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the marzipan until big enough to cover the cake (see tip, right). Brush more jam all over the top and sides of the cake. Use your rolling pin to lift the marzipan onto the cake, then drape it over and ease it down the sides, pressing gently to stick. Trim the excess marzipan from the base, then decorate the cake as you like. Slice into wedges and serve with tea.
Will keep for three days in an airtight container.
PER SERVING (12) 964 kcals • fat 51g • saturates 22g • carbs 113g • sugars 89g • ibre 2g • protein 13g • salt 1.1g