Battenberg cake was always a slightly opulent treat to me when I was young, something that would be found placed next to lavish desserts at a tea party or in an Alice in Wonderland-style picnic. With its beautiful classic yellow and pink checkerboard sponges and distinctive oblong shape, Battenberg has become a traditional decadent teatime treat.
The Battenberg is quintessentially British, created in the 1800s to celebrate the wedding of Princess Victoria, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Louis of Battenberg. While it may appear fiddly to make, as with anything, it is easy when you know how.
To make the checkerboard pattern, two contrasting-coloured sponges are baked side-by-side in a square tin, with a little foil dam placed along the middle to keep the colours separate and prevent them from merging into one another while baking. Once cooled, the sponges are cut lengthways to make four rectangular sponge fingers, then assembled together alternating between colours. Traditionally apricot jam is used to stick the sponges together, then the entire thing is rolled in a sheet of marzipan and sealed.
Don’t get me wrong, the classic is a classic for a reason, but overall it is a little too almondy for me. The original is made with an almond sponge, with yellow and pink colours added, and while flavour variations exist, I find eating a pink or yellow sponge with no real flavour apart from a slight almond note a little disappointing.
This week’s recipe swaps the pink sponge for green, injecting gorgeous pistachio flavour and nutty texture into a light-as-air sponge. It works particularly well with lemon, and so it made sense to flavour my contrasting-coloured sponge with sunny citrus. I do add a tiny splash of yellow and green food colouring to my sponges, just to brighten the natural lemon and pistachio colours ever so slightly, as these dull a little when baked.
I use lemon curd to sandwich the sponges together for extra lemony oomph, but apricot jam would work too. I also make my own marzipan, which is a handful of basic ingredients kneaded together, but feel free to use shop-bought if you prefer.
This Battenberg is bright, light, nutty and soft all at the same time, a perfect twist on a traditional classic.
Recipe: Lemon and pistachio Battenberg
