I Made a Battenberg Cake!

For some, this may not be a very satisfying challenge. I've heard some say Battenberg is an easy cake to make, which is somewhat true: It's a straightforward sponge cake recipe, sliced into four, then stuck together with apricot jam. And if you're not in the mood to make your own almond paste, you could buy it from a European food store, or a Bulk Barn perhaps. Then you just need to roll it out, and wrap it around.

I think where I struggle, is I was used to eating the Mr. Kipling or Sainsbury's Battenberg cake as a kid, so that is what I think of as the "true" thing. Whenever my mom made her own, or I find a home made cake at a British shop (very rare in Toronto!), it never tastes quite the same, which to me means it never tastes quite right.

BUT I decided to give it a go anyway. As I mentioned, it's hard to find a Battenberg cake in Toronto, Mr. Kipling or otherwise, so what have I got to lose?

I ordered a proper four-section cake pan from an Amazon UK shop, then promptly put it away and forgot where I put it. So when the mood struck to make my cake just the other day, I simply divided a square cake tin in half using folded tin foil covered in parchment paper. It wasn't perfect, but it did the trick.

The cake recipe I found on Great British Bake Off and for the almond paste, I used my mom's recipe. I'm not sure what happened to her Battenberg recipe.... my guess is she didn't like how it turned out all those years ago, and tossed it! And without further ado, TA-DA! Here's my cake:

The cake needs some tweaks: I may need to try a more traditional non-non-stick pan, as it took a lot longer to bake than the recipe indicated. I would also add more almond flavouring to the cake batter, and I may using a hand mixer to see if I can get a slightly lighter cake (I used a wooden spoon for mixing).

I think if I make these tweaks, I'll have something close to a "manufactured" cake, as my dad calls it, so I'll keep at it!

If anyone has any tips or suggestions for creating Battenberg perfection, please let me know!

In the meantime, you can order mini Battenbergs from Blighty's British Store and have them shipped to your door. Now that's heaven.