

2019 KEEN YOUNG COOK FINALIST: MAYA RAVINDRAN
Maya's Magnificent Battenberg Bazaar
"I decided to make Battenberg because it's great to have at afternoon tea. It's also such a simple recipe and has a gorgeous structure. I extremely like the checkerboard pattern between the two colours. Finally, I love the almond flavour and the rich taste of the marzipan!
Ingredients
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175g golden, caster sugar
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175g softened butter
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3 large eggs
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140g self-raising flour
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½ tsp baking powder
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½ tsp vanilla extract
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¼ tsp almond extract
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3 tsp pink food colouring
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500g marzipan
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200g apricot jam
Method
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Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/ gas mark 4 and line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. Make a pleat in the centre to separate the two sides of the tin.
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Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, the vanilla and almond extract in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until the mixture comes together smoothly.
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Next, put half of the mixture in another bowl and fold in the pink food colouring. Then, put the mixture into the tin - the pink in one size and the normal in the other. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
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Cool the cakes for 10 minutes before rolling out the marzipan and heating the jam. Half each cake and layer them on top of each other in a checkerboard pattern sticking them together with the jam. Then, wrap the marzipan around the cake.
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To finish, decorate with raspberries and using a fork, poke small squares in the marzipan.