Birthday Battenberg Food

BATTENBERG CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment (the easiest way is to cross 2 x 20cm-long strips over the base). To make the almond sponge, put the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until the mix comes together smoothly. Scrape into the tin, spreading to the corners, and bake for 25-30 mins - when you poke in a skewer, it should come out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling while you make the second sponge.
• For the pink sponge, line the tin as above. Mix all the ingredients together as above, but don't add the almond extract. Fold in some pink food colouring. Then scrape it all into the tin and bake as before. Cool.
• To assemble, heat the jam in a small pan until runny, then sieve. Barely trim two opposite edges from the almond sponge, then well trim a third edge. Roughly measure the height of the sponge, then cutting from the well-trimmed edge, use a ruler to help you cut 4 slices each the same width as the sponge height. Discard or nibble leftover sponge. Repeat with pink cake.
• Take 2 x almond slices and 2 x pink slices and trim so they are all the same length. Roll out one marzipan block on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to just over 20cm wide, then keep rolling lengthways until the marzipan is roughly 0.5cm thick. Brush with apricot jam, then lay a pink and an almond slice side by side at one end of the marzipan, brushing jam in between to stick sponges, and leaving 4cm clear marzipan at the end. Brush more jam on top of the sponges, then sandwich remaining 2 slices on top, alternating colours to give a checkerboard effect. Trim the marzipan to the length of the cakes.
• Carefully lift up the marzipan and smooth over the cake with your hands, but leave a small marzipan fold along the bottom edge before you stick it to the first side. Trim opposite side to match size of fold, then crimp edges using fingers and thumb (or, more simply, press with prongs of fork). If you like, mark the 10 slices using the prongs of a fork.
• Assemble second Battenberg and keep in an airtight box or well wrapped in cling film for up to 3 days. Can be frozen for up to a month.

BATTENBURG CAKE

Steps:

• Cream butter and 1 cup sugar together. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt gently. Add milk if needed.
• Divide batter into 2 equal parts. Add food coloring to 1 part to make a deep pink color. Grease two 7 inch square pans. Spread batters into pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand in pans 5 minutes. Turn out on racks to cool.
• Trim edges from both cakes. Cut each cake lengthwise into 4 strips as wide as the cake is thick. Trim to make strips match. Heat jam slightly. Spread on sides to glue 2 pink and 2 white strips together checkerboard fashion. Spread all 4 sides of completed cake with jam. Repeat with remaining pink and white stripes. Makes two cakes.
• To Make Almond Paste: Mix almonds, confectioners' sugar, egg, lemon juice, and almond extract together. Knead until smooth, adding a bit of lemon juice or water if too dry to roll. Add only 1/2 teaspoon at a time. It will be stiff. Divide into 2 equal parts.
• Roll 1/2 of paste 1/8 inch or so thick on a surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar. Cut to fit length of cake, and long enough to cover 4 sides leaving ends uncovered. Lay cake on one end of paste. Wrap to completely enclose all 4 sides of cake pinching paste to seal. Roll in granulated sugar. Place with seal underneath on serving plate, or store in plastic bag. Repeat for second cake. Chill. Slice thinly to serve.

BATTENBERG RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350f. Line the base and sides of two 20cmx20cm square baking tins with baking parchment.
• Place the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat, using the whisk attachment, until smooth.
• Divide the mixture into two (weigh it out to ensure it's even). Add the almond extract and the yellow food colouring to one bowl and mix together.
• Add the pink food colouring to the other bowl and mix. You want a vibrant yellow and pink colour, so add a little more colouring if required.
• Spoon one of the mixtures into one tin, and the other into the other tin. Smooth the top and ensure the cake batter is spread into the corners. Place in the oven and and bake for 25-30 mins until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Time to assemble. 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).
• Heat the apricot jam in a small pan (or microwave for a few seconds) until runny.
• Take one of the cakes and trim the sides and top so that cooked edges are cut off (you can leave the bottom). Cut the sponge into four long fingers - ensuring the height and width of each finger is equal.
• Repeat with the other sponge.
• Brush centre of the rolled marzipan with apricot jam (see picture), then lay a yellow sponge finger on top.
• Brush the side of the yellow sponge, and stick a pink sponge finger to it. 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 then fold up the sides - 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 and serve.

TRADITIONAL BRITISH BATTENBERG CAKE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• In a large baking bowl beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
• Slowly add the eggs, continuing to beat with the butter and sugar mix; resist the temptation to add the eggs too fast to avoid curdling the cake.
• Add the vanilla extract and stir.
• Sift the flour into the baking bowl, along with the milk, and continue beating until smooth.
• Place half of the mixture in another bowl, add the food coloring a little at a time until you have a color you like. Stir well.
• Grease a 6-inch square cake tin and divide into two by placing a thick layer of aluminum foil down the center. Put the pink mixture on one side and the plain cake on the other.
• Place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
• Cut each cake to the same size, then cut each cake in half lengthways.
• Take a pink cake and brush one side with the warmed jam. Place a yellow piece next to it, jam side together and push gently together.
• Brush the top surface with jam and place a piece of yellow cake atop a pink piece and vice versa.
• Brush all the outside edges with more jam.
• Brush the rolled marzipan with a little jam and wrap it all around the cake, hiding the seam underneath. Trim away any excess.
• Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Serve and enjoy!

CHOCOLATE, RASPBERRY & ROSE BATTENBERG GATEAU

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base of 2 x 18cm round sandwich tins.
• Start with the chocolate sponges. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until the mixture comes together smoothly. Working quickly, weigh the batter, then spread exactly half in each tin. Bake for 30 mins - when you poke a skewer into the middle, it should come out clean. Cool in the tins for 15 mins, then carefully turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling while you make the raspberry-rose sponges.
• Clean the tins, then grease and line as above. Whizz the freeze-dried raspberries and flour together until no lumps of raspberry remain. Tip into a mixing bowl, add the butter, sugar, eggs, almonds, rose water and yogurt, and beat together as above. When smooth, beat in a little pink food colouring bit by bit until you get a nice colour - it will fade a bit during baking. Weigh, divide between the tins and bake and cool as above.
• Once cool, gently cover and chill the sponges for 30 mins - this will make cutting them easier and neater.
• Unwrap the sponges and, if they have domed in the centre, trim to flatten. Cut a 12cm-diameter circle out of the centre of each sponge using a biscuit cutter or paper template. Then cut a 6cm-diameter circle from the centre of your 12cm sponge. From each sponge, you should end up with a 6cm circle, a 12cm ring and an 18cm ring. Swap the middle rings of the chocolate sponges with the middle rings from the raspberry-rose sponges, and fit the cut pieces back together. Handle the sponges very gently to avoid cracking the edges too much.
• Heat the jam to melt, then sieve to remove the seeds. Generously brush some over one of the sponges and top with an alternating sponge. Repeat to stack up all the layers. Sit the cake on a serving plate or cake stand.
• Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl with the cream and butter. Set over a pan of barely simmering water so the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water, and very gently melt together. Cool until slightly thickened and more spreadable, then spread all over the cake to finish. Don't return to the fridge - this cake keeps for two days at room temperature - and tastes better the day after assembling.

EASIEST EVER BATTENBERG

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Using a double layer of foil, make a barrier down the center of a 20cm square tin (or use a battenberg tin), then line each compartment with 2 pieces of baking parchment. Put all the cake ingredients except the food colouring in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Tip half the cake mixture into one side of the tin. Quickly mix the food colouring into the remaining cake mixture. When you have a smooth and vivid pink colour, scrape this mixture into the other side of the tin, then spread both mixtures to the edges of their sections. Bake for 25-30 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Place the cakes on a chopping board and trim the sides of each one to give you a straight edge. Cut each one in half lengthways to give you 2 pink and 2 plain rectangular sponges, using a ruler if you want to be really exact. If the sponges are a little taller than they are wide, trim some sponge from the tops as well - this will ensure you have a perfect square when you come to assemble the cake.
• Heat the apricot jam in a small pan or the microwave, then sieve it. Lightly dust a work surface with a little icing sugar, then roll out a quarter of the marzipan to a rectangle roughly 20 x 10cm. Brush the surface with the warm apricot jam, then place 1 plain sponge and 1 pink sponge side by side on top, brushing the middle of the cakes with a little jam to stick them together. Brush the top of the cakes with more jam, then place the remaining sponges on top, with more jam in between, in a chequerboard pattern.
• Roll out the remaining marzipan to a rectangle roughly 20 x 25cm. Brush any remaining jam over the outside of the assembled cake. Using a rolling pin to help, lift the marzipan over the cake. Smooth it over the top and sides, and press gently into the corners so it wraps the cake tightly. Trim any excess marzipan about 1cm from the sides of the cake, and trim a thin slice off either end to neaten. To finish, crimp the marzipan around the base by pinching with your finger and thumb.

PEEK-A-BOO BATTENBERG CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base of 2 x 18cm round sandwich tins with baking parchment.
• Start with the almond sponge: put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until the mix comes together smoothly. Weigh the mixture and spread exactly half into each tin. Bake for 30 mins - when you poke a skewer into the middle, it should come out clean. Cool in the tins for 15 mins, then carefully turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling while you make the second sponge.
• Clean the tins, then grease and line as above. Beat together the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, eggs, vanilla, rose water and milk as above. When smooth, beat in a little pink food colouring, bit by bit, until you get a nice colour - it will fade a little during baking, so you can go slightly stronger than you want the finished sponge. Weigh, divide between the tins and bake as above. Cool in the same way.
• Once the sponges are cool, cover gently and chill for 30 mins - this will make cutting them easier and neater.
• Unwrap the sponges and, if they have domed in the centre, trim to flatten. Cut a 6cm diameter circle out of the centre of each sponge (a 6cm biscuit cutter is ideal, or make yourself a paper template) and set aside. Then cut a 12cm diameter circle from the centre of each sponge by tracing a knife around a plate of the same diameter (or use another paper template). So from each sponge you should end up with a 6cm circle, a 12cm ring and an 18cm ring.
• Swap the middle rings of the almond sponges with the middle rings from the rose sponges, and fit the cut pieces back together. Handle the sponges very gently, to avoid cracking or crumbling up the edges too much. You should end up with 4 sponges that look like targets.
• Heat the apricot jam to melt, then sieve and stir in the rose water. Brush some over the top of one of the sponges and top with an alternating sponge. Repeat to stack up all the layers. Sit the cake on a serving plate or cake stand.
• Dust your work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out your marzipan until big enough to cover the cake (use a piece of string to measure the cake; see tip below). Brush some more jam all over the top and sides of the cake. Use your rolling pin to lift up the marzipan onto the cake, then ease it down the sides, pressing to stick. Trim the marzipan from the base, then decorate the cake as you like. Cut into wedges and serve with tea. Will keep for three days in an airtight container.