Chocolate Battenberg Cake Recipe

At first glance, this recipe may call for several ingredients that aren't all that easy to come by in the U.S., like caster sugar. This type of sugar is called for in many British recipes, and it's basically just superfine sugar. If you can't find the superfine stuff in the grocery store, you can always order it online, but this won't come cheap. (Amazon sells a 2 ½ pound bag for $13.00.) If you want to save the time and expense of ordering this ingredient, AllRecipes offers an alternative: Put the required amount of granulated sugar in a blender, and pulse it two or three times. Voilà! It's now superfine.

Self-rising flour is easier to come by, and it's also simple to DIY by mixing 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt into 1 cup of all-purpose flour. As for icing sugar, that's just the British term for confectioner's (powdered) sugar. You'll also need butter (softened), eggs, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt, and a little bit of milk may be needed to thin the batter and frosting. One all-important ingredient you probably will need to order, since it would be insanely difficult to produce a suitably smooth homemade version, is ready-to-roll marzipan. You'll need a 1-pound package. Amazon sells it for about $20, but you simply can't have a Battenberg cake without this delicious candy coating that's so much tastier than fondant.

To make the white sponge cake, beat together ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons of caster/superfine (or just plain granulated) sugar with 7 tablespoons of softened butter, then stir in 2 eggs one at a time until thoroughly blended. Mix ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking powder, and a tiny pinch of salt together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir until well combined. If the mixture is too thick, you may need to add 1 tablespoon of milk. Once the batter is ready, pour it into one of the prepared loaf pans.

For the chocolate sponge cake, beat together ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons of caster/superfine sugar with 7 tablespoons of softened butter, and again stir in 2 eggs one at a time until thoroughly blended. Mix ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, another tiny pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, then add to the egg mix. Again, you may need an added tablespoon of milk to thin out the batter. Pour this batter into the other prepared loaf pan, then check to make sure the oven has reached its proper temperature.

While a traditional Battenberg sandwiches together the different-flavored layers of cake with apricot jam, Bryant says using buttercream frosting instead "made the Battenberg a little more creamy overall" and says she feels "the buttercream complements and brings out the chocolate flavor where the jelly would contrast [with] it." If you're a jam fan, though, you can feel free to revert to the original filler, or you could even go wild and use something really different like strawberry or raspberry jam.

If you do decide to go with the buttercream frosting, you can make it while the cakes cool. Put the remaining 7 tablespoons of softened butter in a bowl (Bryant uses a stand mixer, but you can mix by hand as well) and gradually add in the 1 ¾ cups of confectioner's sugar. Mix until the butter and sugar are thoroughly combined and you have a smooth frosting. If needed, you can thin the frosting out with another tablespoon of milk.

Now's the time to roll out that ready-to-roll marzipan. Before you take it out of the package, prep your work surface by sprinkling it lightly with confectioner's sugar. This will keep the marzipan from sticking, but will taste better than using regular flour. Roll out the marzipan using a rolling pin, rotating the marzipan every so often to make sure you're rolling it to an even thickness. You want the finished product to be about as thick as a coin.

To roll the marzipan, first prepare your area by sprinkling the surface with icing sugar so that the marzipan doesn't stick. Roll it out using a rolling pin, periodically rotating the marzipan to make sure it stays even. When it's rolled out, Bryant says it should be "about the thickness of a coin" — one of the thicker ones, like a nickel or a quarter. It should also be about 8x12 inches in order to cover the cake.

Bryant says that in the U.K., where Battenberg cake isn't such a rarity, "We'd normally have Battenberg with afternoon tea ... alongside sandwiches, scones, fresh fruit, etc." She says it's also something people tend to take on picnics. (Wow, and we thought we were being fancy by packing both brownies and peanut butter cookies in our baskets!)

Here in the U.S., where such artistic cakes are harder to come by, you may prefer to have an admiring audience for your elegant dessert. Consider serving the Battenberg cake on your finest china with tea served in your daintiest teacups. In fact, you could even crack open a bottle of champagne. While your home may lack the opulence of Windsor Castle, for one afternoon, at least, you can have a teatime fit for a chocolate-loving queen.