Traditional Battenberg Cake Recipe

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking tin with butter. Line the tin with parchment paper, creating a divide in the middle with the parchment or foil to keep the two cake batters separate.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and caster sugar together until the mixture is light and creamy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the self-raising flour and ground almonds. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the wet mixture in the stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until everything is just combined and no streaks of flour remain.

Spoon half of this batter into one side of your prepared baking tin, smoothing the surface with a spatula.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cake is well risen, springs back when lightly touched, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake should also begin to shrink away from the sides of the pan.

Let the cake cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cake is entirely cool, use a long serrated knife to trim off any uneven edges.

Cut each colored sponge cake in half lengthwise, so you have four long strips of sponge. Trim and neaten the strips as needed to ensure your checkerboard pattern will be as even as possible.

Gently warm the apricot jam in a small saucepan, then press it through a small sieve to remove any lumps, leaving you with smooth, brushable jam.

Brush the warmed jam onto the sides of the cake strips. Arrange them into a checkered pattern: one yellow strip next to a pink strip, and on top of that, a pink strip next to a yellow strip. Use the jam to glue the pieces together firmly.

Dust a large, flat surface with icing sugar. Roll out the marzipan into an oblong shape that's wide enough to cover the length of the cake and long enough to completely wrap around it.

Brush the remaining three sides of the cake with jam. Press the marzipan around the cake, making sure the join is neat and either in one corner or will be underneath the cake once flipped. If you placed the sponge towards one side of the marzipan, you might find it easier to roll the sponge over and over onto the marzipan rather than lifting the marzipan onto the sponge.

Carefully flip the cake over so the seam is underneath. Score the top of the cake with a knife for decoration, or crimp the top corners with your fingers. To reveal the checkerboard pattern, neaten the ends of the cake by trimming off a small bit of cake and excess marzipan from both ends.