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Home » Recipe Index » Cake Recipes

Battenberg Cake ~ Daring Baker Challenge 2

Last Modified: December 12, 2020

I ve made so many cakes before.But all of them have been one bowl or simple ones until now. I ve not had the nerve to ice a cake till now.Let alone make a post of it. I mean i did frost one and it was beautiful and all that but somehow,i knew i could do better.So, this month when the daring baker challenge was announced, i was both excited and a lil scared. I wanted to try the cake real bad but at the same time, so many things about this cake daunted me. Like the chocolate plastique for starters.I wont say this s a great attempt but then even though slightly run of the mill, the cake boosted my confidence like hell. And that s why i thought i m definitely posting my cake!
    So what s battenberg cake? I sure had not heard of it before this challenge. And i must say it was quite a challenge!When Oggi couldnt make it to host this month s challenge, Mandy of What The Fruit Cake came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg cake challenge. She highlighted Mary Berry s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease. I must say she made the whole thing a lot simpler for us and i m so in love with that chocolate plastique that she gave us.She even suggested a combination of flavors. Thanks Mandy! Well, off to the cake now.

 I must tell you all that this requires some amount of planning and a lot of patience.The reason why my cake looks a lil badly finished is because the pink half broke into two when i was turning it out from the tin and i had a very difficult time assembling the cake. So this cake s all about patience and slow down actions! You cant make this snappy!

Prep Time: Under 30 mins for the cake
             Under 30 mins for the chocolate plastique
Cook Time: 30 mins for the cake
             Under 20 mins to knead the plastique
             Under 20 mins for the assembly
Makes an 8″X6″ cake
(Because i dint have enough butter to make buttercream, i used jam.But in case you are using chocolate plastique, your best bet is some butter cream icing.I really wanted to take pics of the tin and the prep of the cake but i was so short on time that i couldnt.I ll make the cake sometime again and repost the pics.Until then, just enjoy the finished pics :))


What You Need?

For The Cake:

Butter softened and unsalted ¾ c
Castor Sugar ¾ c
Self Raising Flour 1 and ¼ c
Eggs 3 large at room temperature
Almonds ground ½ c
Baking powder ¾ tsp
Vanilla extract ½ tsp
Almond extract ¼ tsp
Pink food coloring liquid or paste or gel a little

For The Dark Chocolate Plastique

Cooking dark chocolate 200g chopped coarsely
Liquid glucose syrup or corn syrup 4 tbsp

Special Equipment:

Battenberg cake tin or an 8″X8″ cake pan divided into two with the help of parchment.

To Finish:

Any fruit jam ½ c and some more

How To Divide The Cake Tin?

You Will Need:

Butter paper or parchment paper.
Tin foil

Fold a sheet of tin foil several times to reinforce the divide.
Now, fold the butter paper into half and insert the folded tin foil in the fold.
Now, grease the pan with butter and place the parchment paper with the tin foil in between.
The butter will help glue the paper onto the pan.
Your battenberg tin s ready.

How To Make The Plastique:

In a double boiler,melt the chocolate until glossy and shiny.
Let it cool for about 5 mins.
Now, add the corn syrup or liquid glucose syrup.
The chocolate will seize up immediately.
Now, in a sealable bag, place the chocolate mixture, spread it evenly and leave it overnight or leave it in the fridge to set for about 2 hours.

How To Make The Cake:

Preheat the oven to 180C.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Now, add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract and whisk until the mixture is light and just combined.
At this stage, add in the flour and whisk until well combined.
Now, divide the batter into two.
In one half, add the food color and mix well.
Now, place the pink batter in one half of the tin.
And the yellow batter in the other half.
Bake for 25 to 30 mins till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Let it cool completely before you turn the cake out.
Now, trim the edges of both the cakes and cut them into 2 vertically.Make sure all the strips of the same size to get an even finish.
You will have 4 vertical strips of alternate colors now.
On a large cutting board, place the cake strips.
Heat the jam on high in the microwave for 1 and ½ minutes.
The jam would have become liquid now.
Spread the jam on the sides of the cake strips.
Combine one pink strip and yellow strip this way.
Now, spread the jam on the top of the cake strips.

Combine the other two strips in the same fashion like you did the first two strips.
Place the combined two strips over the first two strips making sure that the pink strip is over the yellow strip and the yellow strip s over the pink strip.The objective is to get an alternate checkered pattern in the cake.
Now, remove the chocolate from the sealable bag and start kneading the chocolate on a surface coated with powdered sugar,
It will break in the beginning but as it warms up and will become pliable.
Knead until you get a dough like structure out of the chocolate.
Now, roll out the chocolate plastique into a thin sheet of rectangle.
Spread the jam over the chocolate well so that once you place the cake, it will stick to it and stay firm.
Now, place the cake on one end of the chocolate rectangle and start rolling the cake making sure that the chocolate covers the cake well.

Now, trim the broad ends of the cake a little bit to get an even finish.
A battenberg keeps well for 2 to 3 days. Dont put it the fridge as the chocolate hardens up and the cake becomes a lil crumbly. Keep it in an airtight container and enjoy a slice whenever you breeze in and out of the kitchen.And at that rate, you neednt even be contemplating storage.Just saying though !

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pinky says

    January 11, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Loved it Anusha..shld give this a try

    Reply
  2. Priya Sreeram says

    July 02, 2012 at 5:23 am

    i totally love the fact that you took this challenge head on- kudos anusha

    Reply
  3. Jayanthi says

    June 28, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    I agree Anusha, but I must say I had loads of fun doing this challenge. The pink color in the cake has come out really well. LOL I do that too….taking a bite every time I see the cake sitting in the counter. Lovely!!!

    Reply
  4. shelley c. says

    June 28, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    I think your Battenberg looks wonderful!! You did a really great job. Yes, it requires some planning and patience, but no matter what, it is a fun dessert, and yours looks delicious.

    Reply
  5. Reshmi Mahesh says

    June 28, 2012 at 4:24 am

    Cake looks perfect and superb…

    Reply
  6. Shama Nagarajan says

    June 27, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    inviting dear

    Reply
  7. Ruth Ellis says

    June 27, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    Yum – what a fantastic cake – well done!

    Reply
  8. Jay says

    June 27, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    looks amazing &amp; delicious<br /><a href="http://tastyappetite.blogspot.com/&quot; rel="nofollow">Tasty Appetite </a>

    Reply
  9. Archana says

    June 27, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Wow. Its defiantly a great cake. <br /><a href="javascript:void(0);" rel="nofollow"> I am hosting Kitchen Chronicles Theme Go Nuts…Do send me your entries </a>

    Reply
  10. jeyashrisuresh says

    June 27, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    That turned out so well.

    Reply
  11. Spice up the Curry says

    June 27, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    wow.. awesome looking cake. I would not dare to bake this, 🙂

    Reply
  12. Roshni says

    June 27, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    daring bake indeed…. wonderful cake

    Reply
  13. runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com says

    June 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    yummmm love the cake!

    Reply
  14. Priya says

    June 27, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    Omg, wat a fabulous looking elegant cake..beautifully done.

    Reply
  15. Lavanya says

    June 27, 2012 at 5:41 pm

    This is too good!<br /><a href="http://lavanyasrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/06/soulflower-rs1000-gift-voucher-giveaway.html&quot; rel="nofollow">Participate n Win Rs.1000/- worth Soulflower Gift Voucher Giveaway</a>

    Reply
  16. Kavi says

    June 27, 2012 at 10:32 am

    I second Veena! 😀 WOW!!!! Looks supremely awesome!! 😀 I wanna keep writing but I just can&#39;t stop looking at the wonder! 😀

    Reply
  17. Deeba PAB says

    June 27, 2012 at 10:27 am

    Well done with the challenge! It&#39;s beautiful!

    Reply
  18. veena krishnakumar says

    June 27, 2012 at 9:59 am

    wow!!!!!wow!!!!!and more wow!!!!

    Reply
  19. Tina says

    June 27, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    Lovely and perfect.

    Reply
  20. Reshmi says

    June 27, 2012 at 11:55 am

    Wow.. what a cake… lovely<br /><a href="http://noelcollections.blogspot.com/&quot; title="Noelcollections" rel="nofollow">Noel collections</a>

    Reply

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Hi! I m Anusha. A very warm welcome to my blog Tomato Blues. I m an advocate by profession and chose to become a food blogger later. I live in Singapore with my husband and daughter. Tomato Blues – About The Author

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