English Battenberg Cake

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English Battenberg Cake

 

1 cup butter

1 cup castor sugar, extra fine white sugar, fruit

sugar or take regular sugar and blend in blender

until it is fine

2 cups self rising flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 to 4 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons apricot jam

 

Almond Paste:

1 cup confectioners' (icing) sugar (4 ounces)

1/2 cup castor sugar (extra fine white sugar) (4

ounces)

1 1/3 cups ground almonds (8 ounces)

1 teaspoon lemon juice a few drops almond essence

1 egg, lightly beaten

 

Heat the oven to fairly hot 375 degrees.

Prepare a 9 x 6-inch cake tin by cutting a piece of

heavy aluminum foil the exact length of the base, but

2 inches wider than the width. Fold a pleat in the

middle so that the foil lies quite flat on the bottom

of the tin and the pleat stands up, forming a wall

which divides the tin into two oblongs of equal size.

With a wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar in a

medium-size mixing bowl, until the mixture is very

light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating

well after each addition, along with 1 tablespoon of

flour. Stir well to mix.

Fold in the remaining flour and the vanilla essence.

Mix in a little milk, if it is necessary, to make the

batter of a consistency that will drop easily off the

spoon. Pour half the cake batter into one half of the

prepared cake tin.

Mix the cocoa into the rest of the batter, add a

spoonful of milk, if necessary, and pour it into the

other half of the tin. Bake in the oven for 25

minutes. When the cake is cooked, set it aside to

cool.

While the cake is baking, make the almond paste. Sift

the icing sugar and the castor sugar together into a

medium-size mixing bowl. Mix in the ground almonds.

Add the lemon juice, almond essence and enough beaten

egg to bind all the ingredients into a paste.

Sprinkle your working surface with a little icing

sugar and put the paste on it. Knead the almond paste

until it is smooth. Be careful not to over-knead as

the paste will become oily.

Remove the cake from the tin. Trim the two halves to

equal size and cut each in half lengthways. Spread the

side of one piece of white cake with the apricot jam

and place a brown piece next to it. Spread jam on top

of the two halves. Repeat with the other two halves of

the cake, alternating the white and brown, and place

on top of the jam covered layer to form a

checker-board pattern. Press gently together. Spread

the remaining jam over the top and the sides of the

cake.

On a lightly sugared board roll the almond paste into

an oblong large enough to encase the whole cake. Wrap

it round the cake, trimming the edges to leave the

ends of the uncovered. Crimp the top edges to make a

border and, with a knife, score a criss-cross pattern

on the top. Keep the cake in a tin with a tight

fitting lid for two days before serving.

 

 

 

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