It's Sweet World Day and this month, for our 14th edition, we decided (Susana and myself of course...), to ask you to make a Battenberg cake!
Is it a difficult cake to make?
Honestly? No!
Is it good? Depends on which recipe you follow. This one was to die for. Sensational!!
But... What is a Battenberg?
According to my researches, the most common story is that it was an English creation to celebrate Queen Victoria’s granddaughter’s marriage.
In 1884 Princess Victoria married Prince Louis of Battenburg and this cake represents the uniting of England and Germany.
Marzipan is a favourite in Germany and the Battenberg cake is named after a town in Hesse.
It encases light sponges, which suit British palettes and it is thought to be a fusion of the particular tastes of the two countries.
Because marzipan was fairly expensive at the time, encasing the cake in it elevated the treat to a level of indulgence, while at the same time, a slice of it went very well with one of Britain’s favourite pleasures, a cup of tea.
However, this is an unconfirmed theory and nobody knows the exact way the Battenberg was made. Similar cakes to the Battenberg also exist, such as the domino cake, church window cake and Neapolitan roll.
There is also dispute over how many squares of cake make up a Battenberg. Some cakes call for nine squares in the checkerboard, others call for four.
Some say the four sections represent the Prince’s of Battenberg. Louis, as mentioned above, along with his brothers Alexander, Franz-Joseph and Henry.
This theory falls apart as some traditional Battenberg cakes have more sections but the thing is, no matter the amount of sections, it is indeed a very delicious cake that I'd never made until now and that was a real delight. At least, this Luis Troyano version which has a Persian twist.
As you might be guessing by now, the Battenberg Cake recipe I'm leaving you today is from Luis Troyano "Bake it Great" gorgeous cook book and I'm very pleased with the final result!
In case you don't know, Luis Troyano was one of the 2014 Great British Bake Off finalists and I'm a Great British Bake Off addicted...
