Battenburg Cake is a traditional English tea cake, despite its German name. The Battenburg family went on to become the Mountbatten family, changing their name to Windsor just before World War I. This cake is still served at Buckingham Palace, especially for garden parties, and was a favorite of the Duchess of York’s.
4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, softened
2¼ cups granulated sugar
8 eggs
3¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 to 4 drops red food color (optional)
1 (12-ounce) jar apricot jam
1 pound marzipan
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans, and line with greased parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale, light, and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour, and place half of the mixture into one of the prepared cake tins. Quickly fold in a few drops of the red food color (any more will make it a darker red) into the remaining cake batter until well combined, and then pour the red batter into the other prepared cake pan.
2. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and the top of each cake springs back when lightly pressed. Remove from the oven, and invert the cake pans onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely.
3. Trim each cake into two 7 × 1 × 1-inch rectangles, four in all. Try to remove all the brown outer edges when you are cutting the rectangular logs. In a small pan, melt the apricot jam over low heat to soften. Brush jam onto all the sides of each of the four pieces. Lay a plain layer of cake with a red layer on top. Touching alongside the plain layer, lay a red layer with a plain layer on top.
4. Roll out the marzipan to about ¼ inch thick and into a rectangle big enough to wrap around the cake. Carefully lay the cake on one edge of the marzipan, and fold the marzipan around the cake, moistening the marzipan edges with a little water and pinching them together. Trim off any marzipan edges and discard. Cut the cake into 1-inch slices and serve.
MAKES 10 SERVINGS