Daring Bakers - Battenberg Cake - Going Batty for the Jubilee

On 2 June 2012, it was 60 years since Queen Elizabeth II was crowned as Queen of the British Empire, and unless you have been isolated from the media for the last month, you could not have missed all the celebrations that have been taking place for the Diamond Jubilee.  This month also marked the 70th birthday of Sir Paul McCartney from The Beatles on 18 June.  Accordingly, being a huge Beatles fan, I have made this month's Daring Bakers challenge both to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and for Sir Paul's birthday.

Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! 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.

Battenberg Cake was first made for the wedding of Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria's granddaughter, on her marriage to Prince Louis of Battenberg.  The four checks in the pink and white checkerboard pattern represent the four princes of Battenberg.  I have never made a Battenberg cake before, although I have always wanted to try, so I went with the traditional colours (pink and white) and flavours (almond and vanilla) suggested in the recipe.

Without more ado, here are my two cakes fresh out of the oven, one pink and one white:

Here are the trimmed cakes lined up and glued together with apricot jam:

And finally, here is the finished cake with its marzipan coating and scored top:

This cake was absolutely scrumptious served with a hot cup of English Breakfast tea:

The lovely tea towel which forms a backdrop to my cake comes from Anthropologie at The Grove in West Hollywood - it is mint green with a tea set print and embroidery.  I love it!

To see how the other Daring Bakers fared with this month's challenge, take a look at the slideshow on the Daring Kitchen website on reveal day (27 June 2012).