Just give me all the marzipan! I made this battenburg for Chris’s birthday recently since I know it’s one of his favourite cakes in the whole world, even more so than the Amaretti Cookies that he LOVES too! Homemade battenberg is awesome, and this recipe makes TWO. Sounds like overkill, but the first one will be gone before you’ve even finished your cup of tea, so it really is a good idea to make two. It’s actually easier to make two. Why?Well we make a small square pink sponge and a small square yellow sponge for this cake. However, we only need half of the pink and half of the yellow sponge to make a single battenberg. So it makes sense to make two cakes.I’ve tried splitting my little square cake tin in two using a foil divider in the middle, so I could have pink on one side and yellow on the other, but the cake batter seeps through the foil and makes a mess every time. It really is easier to just go with two cakes. If you really don’t think you can eat them both, then you could just freeze one. It freezes well, and makes a great treat a few weeks later when you forgot you made it!
Next up we roll out one of the marzipan blocks on a surface that’s been dusted with LOTS of confectioners’ sugar. It needs to be a little more than 20cm wide and long enough to wrap around the cake (about 40cm).Brush centre of the rolled marzipan with apricot jam, then lay a yellow sponge finger on top. Brush the side of the yellow sponge.Stick a pink sponge finger to the yellow sponge. Brush the top of the two sponge fingers with jam and place the other two fingers on top (with jam in between those two fingers), so you have a checkerboard effect.Spread jam on the rest of the marzipan.Fold up the sides of the marzipan - making sure it’s quite tight, and well-adhered to the sponge. Fold the edges back on top of the cake and press them together - like you’re sealing a zip-lock bag. Trim the excess marzipan off the top of the cake.Check again that everything is well adhered, then slice off both ends of the cake - to give a neat finish.Repeat this process for the other cake.Turn the cakes over, so the seam is on the bottom, then sprinkle with a little confectioners’ sugar before serving.
👩🍳PRO TIP To get a lovely neat battenberg you’ll need to trim of the ends. Be sure to save them too - they’re the cooks treat!! The cake mix is just a basic sponge of butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, ground almonds and eggs. I also like to add a little vanilla and almond extract in there too. Once it’s all mixed together, we divide the mixture in two and colour one with yellow food colouring and the other with pink. Then bake each mixture in a 20cmx20cm tin. Once the cakes are cooked, trim the edges and slice each cake into four 20cm long fingers (5cm width). Serve with a nice cup of tea! Stay updated with new recipes!Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m also on YouTube (new videos every week) and Instagram (behind-the-scenes stories & beautiful food photos). This post was first published in August 2016. Update August 2021 with new photos, video, tips, and a bit of housekeeping. Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
