Battenberg Cake with Apricot Jam and Marzipan

What you need

• 175 g (6 oz) soft butter, plus extra for the tin
• 175 g (3/4 cup) superfine (caster) sugar, plus 2 tbsp for rolling
• 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175 g (1 1/3 cups) self-raising flour
• pink food coloring, a few drops, as needed
• 100 g (1/3 cup) apricot jam
• 400 g (14 oz) white marzipan

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 160 °C (325 °F). Butter a 20 x 15 cm (8 x 6 in) cake tin and line it with parchment paper.

2. 2

   Fold a strip of foil into a thick pleat, stand it across the middle of the tin and butter it. This splits the tin into two equal halves.

3. 3

   Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 min.

4. 4

   Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well. If the mixture starts to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.

5. 5

   Beat in the vanilla, then fold in the flour until smooth.

6. 6

   Divide the batter between two bowls. Stir a few drops of coloring into one bowl until evenly pink.

7. 7

   Spoon the plain batter into one half of the tin and the pink batter into the other. Level both.

8. 8

   Bake until risen, golden and springy to the touch, about 35 min.

9. 9

   Cool in the tin for 10 min, then lift the sponges out onto a rack and cool completely.

10. 10

    Trim the tops flat and square off the edges. Cut each sponge in half lengthwise to give 2 plain and 2 pink bars of equal size.

11. 11

    Heat the jam until it runs freely, then press it through a sieve.

12. 12

    Dust the work surface with sugar and roll the marzipan into a rectangle about 16 x 38 cm (6 x 15 in) and 3 mm thick.

13. 13

    Brush the marzipan with jam. Lay one plain and one pink bar side by side at one end, brushing jam between them.

14. 14

    Brush jam on top and add the other two bars, plain over pink and pink over plain, so the colors form a checkerboard.

15. 15

    Wrap the marzipan snugly around the cake, with the seam underneath. Trim the ends, crimp the top edges with your fingers and score the top lightly with a fork.

16. 16

    Cut into 2 cm (3/4 in) slices to show the checkerboard.

Imported from bakewithsarah.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.