Black Forest Battenberg – British Royal Cake

Ingredients

• 175 gms/6 oz. room temperature unsalted Butter
• 175 gms of Super fine or Caster Sugar
• 3 large room temp eggs
• 175 gms sifted self raising Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 tbsps ground Almonds
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Food coloring
• 200 gms/ 7 oz powdered almonds
• 400 gms/ 14 oz Icing Sugar
• 2 Egg whites
• ½ tsp Almond Extract
• 1 cup Cherry jam
• 100 gms dark Chocolate melted

Instructions

1. Add the room temperature butter to the processor bowl and process till nice and fluffy
2. Add 175 gms of super fine or caster sugar and cream together
3. Once the butter and sugar are well creamed together, add 3 eggs one at a time, scraping after each addition
4. Sift 175 gms of Self raising flour and add a tablespoon of thee flour in between beating the eggs to prevent the butter from looking like it’s curdled
5. Add 1 tsp of Baking Powder and the rest of the self raising flour and 2 tbsps of ground almonds
6. Add 2 tbsps Vanilla extract
7. Equally divide the batter into two parts color one half pink
8. Divide the pan in half(see video for full instructions) and add the batter to the pan
9. Add this into your preheated oven for 35 mins
10. After 35 mins, check with a cake pin or skewer and allow it to cool completely
11. If your cakes have a bump, just level them off with a knife
12. Once the cakes are cool cut them into strips
13. Prepare the marzipan mix 200 gms of powdered almonds together with 400 gms of icing sugar and process it
14. Add 2 egg whites, one at a time and a ½ tsp of almond extract
15. Add the marzipan to a microwave safe platter and cover with cling film
16. Zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds and do this 3 times
17. The dough will be warm and the egg would have cooked. Leave this aside to cool
18. Lay out a piece of parchment paper and roll out the marzipan
19. Sandwich the cakes together using the classic ingredient apricot jam
20. Make sure you alternate the colors so it looks like a chequered pattern
21. Lay this over the marzipan and make sure you’ve rolled one side long enough to completely cover the cake
22. Trim off any excess marzipan and this can be stored in a Ziploc bag and reused
23. Remove the cake and brush the inside of the marzipan with jam
24. Lay the cake over the marzipan and using the help of the parchment paper, lift the marzipan and cover the cake
25. Uing cling film wrap the cake for an hour so everything holds together well
26. Cover the cake with melted Chocolate and allow to set
27. Trim the edges with a sharp knife and clean the knife in between to cut neat and clean slices