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It is celebration time in London, first this month they celebrated Queen’s Royal Jubilee and next month they are going to celebrate Olympics 2012. This daring baker’s challenge by Mandy of What the Fruitcake?! to make a Battenberg cake, which is almond flavored two colored sponge cake covered with marzipan. This cake was originally invented by the chefs of the British Royal household to celebrate the marriage of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg.
When you cut open the cake you will see two different colors, traditional ones with pink representing princess and yellow for Prince. When I looked at the challenge, same old thought came into mind, yes it is difficult and I am not going to make it. Then when I read the history of Battenberg cake hereand hereand watching video of famous cook Mary Berry recipe cooked by Mike in you tube, I got hooked, and decided to give it try. Recipe given in challenge contains self rising flour plus a lot of baking powder. I made sponge cake with yogurt and coconut cake with red and green colors. I am afraid of using uncooked egg in the marzipan, as it won’t be wise idea to give to my little princess. I used a cashew marzipan instead of traditional almond marzipan; in other words India’s famous Kaju katli.
I told my hubby I am going to make cake; he thought okay I will be babysitting the kids. Then when I started baking he realized that it is going to a long business, poor guy. Even though he was a little irritated, he patiently looked after both kids. Looking after my boy is easy, he is happy to look at you and smile when you talk to him. But my daughter needs constant vigil, and you don’t what will happen in the next second. Lots of pulling, throwing and accidents will happen.
First I made the cake, and then I made the marzipan akka kaju ki Katli. Assembled the cake in the night, and thought I can take a better picture in morning. Next the morning when the sun came up, I decided to take picture. I clicked several pictures, next moment want to take another angle and realized that one part of marzipan/covering of cake is gone. I asked hubby, I don’t know what happened to one side of cake covering, it is not there. May be I didn’t do it properly in night. Then my hubby told me, look at your daughter, she has taken it and eating the cover now. I turned back and looked at her. Yes she is eating. When I gave her the slice of cake also, she likes to eat the cover and not the cake. That means cake doesn’t have any appealing to her.
I liked the cake; my hubby thought it is an overdose of sugar. However when his friend’s kids sampled it, told him that cake is good, but it needs more sugar. So if you want to make this cake increase sugar. I reduced the sugar. I like the bite which coconut gives, if you don’t like it use almond meal/flour. Here goes the recipe.
What you need
Print recipe here
For cake
All purpose flour: 1 ¼ cups
Sugar: ¾ cup
Butter: 2 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoon for pan
Greek yogurt: 1 cup
Olive oil: ½ cup
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Desiccated coconut: ⅓ cup
Vanilla extract: ½ teaspoon
Green food color: 8 drops
Red food color: 8 drops
For Glue
Pineapple jam: 1 tablespoon + ¼ teaspoon water
Eggless Cashew Marzipan : One Kaju Katli recipe follows
How I made
Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan Assisted/Gas Mark 4.
Grease an 8”/20cm square baking tin with butter Line the tin with parchment paper, creating a divide in the middle with the parchment (or foil) .
Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside. In bowl of kitchen-aid stand mixer add, butter, sugar, and beat well to mix together then add egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract combine everything.
Then gradually add dry ingredients with wet ingredients and beat together just until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth.
Divide the batter into two and add one red food color and other add green food color and stir until colors is thoroughly mixed and color is distributed, add more color if need.
Spoon the red batter into the one half and other with green color batter of the prepared baking pan.Smooth the surface of the batter with a spatula, making sure batter is in each corner.
(Make a pan divider using parchment paper and foil. First f old over a sheet of foil several times to help reinforce the divide. Then fold the parchment in half and put the foil into the crease. Butter the bottom of the cake pan, this will help "glue" the parchment to it. Make sure the divide is in the middle of the pan and stick the excess parchment onto the bottom.)
Bake for 35 minutes until the cake is well risen, springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean (it should shrink away from the sides of the pan).
Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out to cool thoroughly on a wire rack.
Once completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated knife.
Cut each colored sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge
Neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible
Gently heat the pineapple jam and pass through a small sieve.
Brush warmed jam onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern (one green next to one red. On top of that, one red next to one green) - Tip: See photos for detailed instructions
Dust a large flat surface with icing sugar then roll the marzipan in an oblong shape that is wide enough to cover the length of the cake and long enough to completely wrap the cake
Brush the top of the cake with pineapple jam
Place the cake on the marzipan, jam side down
- Tip: Either in the middle or to the one side of the marzipan
Brush the remaining three sides with jam
Press the marzipan around the cake, making sure the join is either neatly in the one corner, or will be underneath the cake once turned over
- Tip: If you put the sponge to the one side of the marzipan, It easiest to "roll" the sponge over and over onto the marzipan instead of lifting the marzipan up onto the sponge.
Carefully flip the cake over so that the seam is under the cake and score the top of the cake with a knife, you can also crimp the top corners with your fingers to decorate.
Neaten the ends of the cake and remove excess marzipan by trimming off a small bit of cake on both ends to reveal the pattern.
Enjoy with the tea.
Preparation time:
Preparation: 15-20mins
Baking & Cooling Time: 45-60mins
Assembly: 15-20mins
Yield:8 serving
Verdict: Taste good.
I am sending this cake to Alea and April's Gallery of Favorites
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
cookingvarieties says
hi swathi, this cake tells me that you are an expert in baking.. very interesting and sounds flavorful with the coconut added. bookmarked with thanks. nice pics. have a great weekend
Miriam says
You are such a talented baker! Beautiful cake :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Anh says
What an awesome looking cake!
Maika says
Pineapple jam for glue? now that delicious 🙂 sounds really good and looks awesome...
Balvinder Ubi says
Swati,I like the idea of Kaju katli marzipan.I am also afraid of using raw egg. I have so many recipes of ice creams and other desserts with raw egg but never tried them.
If I have to take a picture for my blog I take it right away otherwise I know the time will be gone. your daughter eating the marzipan shows how tasty it was.
hemalata says
Beautiful cake, looks so yummy n colorful
Sensible Vegetarian says
Swathi you sure are a very talented baker. The cake looks superb.
Jayasri Ravi says
wow, you have done a good job I haven't posted mine yet!, looks delicious..
Rebecca Subbiah says
first class cake and so proud of you the way you take on baking challenges and come out on top
Lizzy says
Yikes, I thought I already commented on your gorgeous cake! I love this look and wish I would have come out of DB retirement for this one! Marvelous job on the challenge!!!!
Reeni says
What a beautiful cake Swathi! You did a great job on it. I don't know if I could resist swiping a bit of it either!
Oishii Treats says
wow love the colors you used, what a gorgeous cake.
Barbara Bakes says
Such a funny/cute story. Great job on this challenge!
Elisabeth says
Swathi, I'm sure your hubby had plenty of babysitting to do while you made this masterpiece of a cake!
Love the pastel colors, and the marzipan coating!
Feel bad, for not submitting that cake Lora and I made for Lizzy's guest post, which was still in June!
As for making cake in the last two days...would be impossible; will do next time!
Navaneetham Krishnan says
Simple gorgeous, I can't take my eyes of the pics.
Cathleen says
What!! This is gorgeous, I have never even ,made a cake with one color. This is gorgeous!
Arch says
Never heard of this before, it looks beautiful ! Really nicely made...
Angie's Recipes says
So very pretty!
Hema says
So beautifully done Swathi..
Baker Street says
Great step by step pictures, Swathi! The cake looks incredible! 🙂
Kanchan says
Cake has come out perfect and with lovely step wise snaps, loved the recipe.
Torviewtoronto says
cake look wonderful deliciously done
Julie says
wow..awesome bake,Swathi..delicious covering too,adipoli cake!!
Ongoing Events at(Erivum Puliyum)-
1. The Kerala Kitchen(June'12)
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Az says
Looks super delicious and creamy!! Love it!!
Reshmi Mahesh says
Beautiful cake...Looks very yummy...Loved the idea of using kaju katli for coating..
The 21st Century Housewife© says
My son used to be like your daughter - I always had to keep an eye on him because I never knew what he would be up to next 🙂 Your Battenburg cake looks so pretty. I like the idea of the cashew marzipan too.
radha says
Fabulous effort. And what a lovely looking cake.
savitha ramesh says
Great effort to create this magic.love the cake and the clicks.
Priya says
Looks absolutely divine and mindblowing.
anthony stemke says
You have a lot of tremendous baked goods, this one is fabulous, I was looking for the Challah one but have not found it yet.
The pictures are very beautiful too.
anthony stemke says
You have a lot of tremendous baked goods, this one is fabulous, I was looking for the Challah one but have not found it yet.
The pictures are very beautiful too.
chitraj.hegde says
woooow..this cake seems very difficult to prepare..lost of steps to follow..but hats of to u...and for all your step wise clicks....the cake is looking stunning..dont feel like cutting and eating...just wann keep it for ever..after doing lots of work..
Anshu Bhatnagar says
Wow!!!...what a colorful cake...very unique...bookmarked the recipe. Thanks for sharing!
http://anshu-mymomsrecipes.blogspot.in/
Sanoli Ghosh says
First of all, thanks a lot for sharing this excellent cake recipe. Awesome..........superb innovation Swathi.
Sayantani says
thats so well made Swathi. looks royal.
El Oteador de los Mercados says
That Battenberg cake is a delicacy. Reminds me a bit to the marzipan that are in my city in some festivals.
Spice up the Curry says
beautiful looking cake, nice one
Srimathi says
It kind of inspires me to wanna make this cake. The video link was good to watch.
Shri says
Swathi loved the post! The battenberg cake looks perfect with or without eh cover on one side! :-D!
Kudos to you for your patience.
Guru Uru says
Your cake looks stunning my friend, what lovely colours 😀
Beautiful!
Cheers
CCU
Kaveri Venkatesh says
Awesome looking cake....appreciate your efforts in baking this cake with 2 kids around...
Sharmilee! :) says
Wow beautiful colorful cake..looks yum!
Gayathri NG says
Excellent cake, looks so yumm n nice colour.
Vimitha Anand says
Looks so perfect. Loved the Indian touch to the cake
PT says
loved the cake.. fantastic..
Jay says
looks yummy & tempting
Tasty Appetite
spusht says
Now that is a great idea to use kaju katli dough in this form for covering the cake instead of a raw egg version!