Battenburg Cake

Ingredients

Cakes

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Milk, if needed
• Red food coloring
• 1 cup apricot jam

Almond Paste

• 2 cups finely ground almonds
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• Lemon juice or water
• Confectioners' sugar

Instructions

1. Cakes: Cream butter and 1 cup sugar together.
2. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time.
3. Mix in vanilla extract.
4. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt gently.
5. Add milk if needed.
6. Divide batter into 2 equal parts.
7. Add food coloring to 1 part to make a deep pink color.
8. Grease two 7-inch square pans. Spread batters into pans.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
10. Let stand in pans 5 minutes.
11. Turn out on racks to cool.
12. Trim edges from both cakes. Cut each cake lengthwise into 4 strips as wide as the cake is thick. Trim to make strips match.
13. Heat jam slightly. Spread on sides to glue 2 pink and 2 white strips together c heckerboard fashion. Spread all 4 sides of completed cake with jam.
14. Repeat with remaining pink and white stripes.
15. Almond Paste: Mix almonds, confectioners' sugar, egg, lemon juice and almond extract together. Knead until smooth, adding a bit of lemon juice or water if too dry to roll. Add only 1/2 teaspoon at a time. It will be stiff. Divide into 2 equal parts.
16. Roll 1/2 of paste 1/8 inch thick on a surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar. Cut to fit length of cake and long enough to cover 4 sides leaving ends uncovered. Lay cake on one end of paste. Wrap completely to enclose all 4 sides of cake pinching paste to seal.
17. Roll in granulated sugar.
18. Place with seal underneath on serving plate, or store in plastic bag. repeat for second cake. Chill.
19. Slice thinly to serve.

Yield: 2 cakes