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Battenberg cake

Battenberg cake on a wooden board, showing pink and yellow checkered pattern with white marzipan. Rustic kitchen setting.

By Tom · Updated

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  • Makes 8 slices
  • About 1 hour
  • Easy

This step-by-step guide will show you exactly how to create this iconic British bake, complete with its signature checkerboard pattern and marzipan wrap. Baking a Battenberg cake? Here's what you need to Know.

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The recipe

Battenberg cake

This step-by-step guide will show you exactly how to create this iconic British bake, complete with its signature checkerboard pattern and marzipan wrap.

  • Makes 8 slices
  • 15 min prep
  • 45 min cooking
  • Easy

Times and difficulty are our estimates from the method, not stopwatch figures.

Scale
8 slices
Measurements

Ingredients

Filling & decoration

Tick things off as you go — they stay ticked if you close the page.

A dotted underline means the amount has been rounded to something you can measure.

Method

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 150°C fan and grease and line two loaf tins with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter (200 g) and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take 3 to 5 minutes. You can also use an electric hand whisk for this. Mix in the eggs (4) and vanilla (1 tsp) until fully incorporated. Sift and fold in the flour (200 g).

  3. Step 3

    Split the batter into two halves and colour one half with food colouring until it is a nice shade of pink. Place the pink batter in one tin and the plain batter in another and spread out using a spatula.

  4. Step 4

    Place into the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

  5. Step 5

    Cut each cake in half lengthways and cut off the crusts aiming to create 4 long rectangle shapes (2 of each colour).

  6. Step 6

    Warm the apricot jam (170 g) in a saucepan and pass through a sieve.

  7. Step 7

    Dust the workbench with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan (1 marzipan) to 2mm in thickness making sure it's big enough to cover the whole cake. Brush with the apricot jam (170 g).

  8. Step 8

    Build the cake in the centre of the marzipan (1 marzipan) brushing each piece on all sides with jam. Wrap the cake with the marzipan allowing it to overlap slightly and trim off the excess.

  9. Step 9

    Slice, Serve and enjoy.

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Questions people ask

How long does battenberg cake take?

About 1 hour from start to finish, of which 15 min is prep and 45 min is cooking. That figure is worked out from the method rather than timed with a stopwatch, so give yourself a little more the first time.

How much does it make?

As written it makes 8 slices. Use the scale control on the recipe card to change it: every quantity in the ingredients and inside the method steps updates with it. Seasoning, and anything measured in pinches or splashes, is deliberately left alone.

Can I see the ingredients in ounces and pints?

Yes. The metric and imperial switch on the recipe card converts every quantity, rounded to amounts you can actually weigh or measure rather than to four decimal places. Your choice is remembered for every recipe on the site.

Is it vegetarian?

Yes, as written. If you are cooking for a strict vegetarian, the one to check is the cheese: several hard cheeses are made with animal rennet.