This is Gluten-free by Victoria Hall

Author:Victoria Hall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ryland Peters & Small
Published: 2017-11-25T05:00:00+00:00

Although this is a long recipe, the elements of a Battenberg cake are all simple enough to whip up. The trick here is mastering its construction, and planning the baking of the sponges a day ahead.

From start to serve: 24 hours | Prep: 1 hour | Bake: 20–25 minutes Difficulty:

battenberg cake

360 ml/11⁄2 cups whole milk

21 g/11⁄2 tablespoons sunflower oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

390 g/22⁄3 cups plain/all-purpose gluten-free flour

21 g/51⁄4 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum

375 g/13⁄4 cups plus 2 tablespoons caster/granulated sugar

105 g/7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

a few drops of pink gel food colouring

MARZIPAN

200 g/1 cup caster/granulated sugar

200 g/12⁄3 cups icing/confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting

300 g/2 cups ground almonds

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

BUTTERCREAM

40 g/3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

100 g/3⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon icing/confectioners’ sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon whole milk

apricot jam/jelly, to spread

2 x 900-g/2-lb. loaf pans greased and lined with baking parchment

SERVES 10–12

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) Gas 5.

In a jug/pitcher, combine the milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract.

To a large bowl, or the bowl of a free-standing mixer, add the flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, sugar and softened butter and, using a handheld electric whisk or a free-standing mixer, mix everything together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Continue to mix on a slow speed and pour in the wet ingredients. Increase the speed and mix for 3–5 minutes until the batter thickens. Spoon half of the mixture into one of the cake pans, and level with a spoon or spatula.

To the remaining mixture add a few drops of pink food colouring and mix until the colour is even. Spoon this into the other pan and level.

Bake the sponges in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes until they are risen and spring back to the touch. Put the pans onto a wire rack to cool completely. Gently remove from the pans once cool and carefully wrap the sponges well in clingfilm/plastic wrap. Leave in a cool place overnight.

The next day, make the marzipan. Put the sugars, ground almonds, eggs and almond extract into a large bowl, or the bowl of a free-standing mixer. Beat until everything comes together as a dough, adding a little extra icing/confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds if the mixture seems too wet.

For the buttercream, beat together the softened butter, icing/confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract until soft and smooth. Add the milk if required.

Unwrap the sponges. Level the tops and trim the edges so that they are straight on all sides. Divide each sponge into 2 equal strips. Check that all 4 sponge strips are the same size, and trim if required.

Using buttercream to create a thin, even layer of ‘glue’, sandwich together one cream and one pink sponge strip. Spread a layer of buttercream on top of these now adjoined strips and lay the remaining sponges on top, pink lying on white and white lying on pink to create a cuboid cake.

Lay a piece or overlapping pieces of clingfilm/plastic wrap larger than the cake onto the work surface and lightly dust with icing/confectioners’ sugar.

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