Battenburg Cake

Battenburg Cake Recipe
Ingredients: Makes one 18 cm/7 in cake
175 g/6 oz/0.75 cup butter or margarine, softened175 g/6 oz/0.75 cup caster (superfine) sugar3 eggs, lightly beaten225 g/8 oz/2 cups self-raising (self-rising) flourA few drops of vanilla essence (extract)A few drops of raspberry essence (extract)For the icing (frosting):15 ml/1 tbsp raspberry jam (conserve), sieved (strained)225 g/8 oz Almond PasteA few glace (candied) cherries
Method:
Cream together the butter or margarine and sugar. Gradually beat in the eggs, then fold in the flour and vanilla essence. Divide the mixture in half and stir the raspberry essence into one half. Grease and line an 18 cm/7 in square cake tin (pan) and divide the tin in half by folding greaseproof (waxed) paper down the centre of the tin. Pour each mixture into one half of the tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for about 50 minutes until springy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
Trim the edges of the cake and cut each piece in half lengthways. Sandwich together a pink and a vanilla piece on the bottom and a vanilla and a pink on the top, using some of the jam to fix them together. Brush the outside of the cake with the remaining jam. Roll out the almond paste into a rectangle about 18 x 38 cm/7 x 15 in. Press round the outside of the cake and trim the edges. Decorate the top with glace cherries.

Baking TipsBaking Tips: Most cakes can be succesfully frozen if as soon as they are cold they are wrapped in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a freezer bag and frozen. They will keep for up to three months