Vegan Battenberg Cake
This traditional English cake may look complicated to make but it's easier than you think. Find out how to make a Vegan Battenberg Cake.
Servings: 8 slices
Equipment
- 20cm / 8in square cake tin
Ingredients
For the sponge cake
- 250 grams self raising flour
- 200 grams caster sugar
- 100 grams ground almonds
- 200 grams non-dairy butter
- 200 millilitres almonds milk
- 1 tsp almond extract
- pink food colouring
For the marzipan
- 300 grams ground almonds
- 225 grams icing sugar
- 50 millilitres water
- 1.5 tsp almond extract
To assemble
- 1-2 tbsp apricot jam
- icing sugar for rolling out the marzipan
Instructions
Preparing your tin
- Fold a piece of tin foil several times until it is thick enough to use as a divider down the middle of your tin. Make sure it is at least as high and wide as the tin.
- Cut a piece of baking paper that is twice as long as your cake tin. Fold it in half and place this pleat over the tin foil divider. Push the baking paper into the base of the cake and then up the sides. Any overhang can be used to remove the cakes later.
- Line any remaining sides of the tin before preparing the cake mix.
Baking the cake
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
- Sieve the flour, ground almonds and caster sugar into a bowl.
- Add the butter, milk and almond extract and whisk until you have a bubbly cake batter.
- Split the cake batter in two (you can use a scale to make sure you have divided it evenly) and colour one half with pink food colouring.
- Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes or until the sponges bounce back when touched and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave the cakes to cool in the tin before assembling.
For the marzipan
- While the cakes are cooling, add the ground almonds and icing sugar into a blender and pulse until they have become a fine powder.
- Add the water and the almond extract and continue to pulse until a ball of dough has formed.
- If a ball of dough does not form add a little extra water but try to be patient, it may take a while to come together.
- Knead the marzipan ball on a clean surface to ensure it's smooth.
- Shape the marzipan into a rectangle and cover with cling film. Place it into the fridge and let it rest for at least half an hour before attempting to roll out for the cake's assembly.
Assembling the cake
- Once the cakes are completely cool, place the sponges on top of each other and trim so that they are both the same size.
- Cut the sponges straight down the middle. You should now have 4 even rectangles of cake.
- Take one of the trips of yellow sponge and spread the long right hand edge and the top of the cake with apricot jam. Push one of the strips of pink sponge against the side firmly to ensure it is stuck together.
- Spread a thin layer of apricot jam on top of that strip of pink sponge and place the second strip of yellow sponge on top.
- Spread a thin layer of jam along the long left hand edge of the yellow sponge and push it firmly in place. You should now have a chequer board pattern.
- Dust a clean surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the marzipan making sure that it is as long as all 4 sides of the chequer board face of the cake and as wide as each strip of sponge cake. Use a ruler to help.
- Spread the top of the cake with apricot jam and place it into the centre of the marzipan before spreading the remaining three sides with a little bit of apricot jam.
- Fold in both sides of the marzipan and seal the seam together with a pinch.
- Trim any excess marzipan with a sharp knife.