Battenberg Cake – Daring Baker’s June 2012 Challenge –

Mandy of What the Fruitcake?! was our June 2012 Daring Baker Hostesse! Mandy challenged us to make Battenberg Cake, a beautiful dessert!

Battenberg cake is a light sponge cake. Traditionally, this cake is covered in marzipan and his color is pink and yellow. It was originaly invented to celebrate the wedding of Queens Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Victoria, to husband Prince Louis de Battenberg.

Thanks to Mandy for this fabulous and wonderful cake! I always think about my kids when I’m baking the Daring Bakers’ Challenge. So this month I chose chocolate flavor and I covered the cake with dark chocolate. My husband loves these beautiful desserts!!! So he wanted to help me to cut the sponge cake in four long strips and place the cake in the dark chocolate plastic/modeling.

I love DBaker’s challenges, because I always learn new techniques,new recipes and because I always have my husband or one of my teenagers in my kitchen to help me. The Dbakers is for us a family’s challenge and everyone is so proud to bake a new cake or a new loaf.:)

Wow! It’s so pretty!!!

And so good!!!

Servings: +-8

Ingredients :

• 3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) (175 gr) (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened & cut in cubes.
• 3/4 cup (175 gr) (6 oz) caster sugar
• 11/4 cups (175 gr) (6 oz) self-raising flour ***
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (65 gr) (21/3 oz)  ground rice
• 3/4 tsp  (31/2 gr) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup (100 gr) apricot jam

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C
2. Grease an 8″/20cm square baking tin with butter
3. Line the tin with parchment paper, creating a divide in the middle with the parchment (or foil)
4. Prepare Battenbreg tin by brushing the tin with melted butter and flouring
5. Whisk together the dry ingredients then combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl and beat together just until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth
6. Spoon half the mixture into the one side of the prepared baking tin
7. Add 3 or 4 tsp of unsweetened chocolate powder, stir until the colour is thoroughly distributed
8. Spoon the chocolate batter into the other half of the prepared baking tin
9. Smooth the surface of the batter with a spatula, making sure batter is in each corner
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes
11. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out to cool thoroughly on a wire rack
12. Once completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated kinfe
13. Cut each coloured sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge
14. Neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible
15. Gently heat the apricot jam and pass through a small sieve
16. Brush warmed jam onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern
17. Dust a large flat surface with icing sugar then roll the marzipan in an oblong shape that is wide enough to cover the length of the cake and long enough to completely wrap the cake
18. Place the cake on the chocolate plastic/modeling, press it around the cake, making sure the join is either neatly in the one corner, or will be underneath the cake once turned over
19. Carefully flip the cake over so that the seam is under the cake and score the top of the cake with a knife, you can also crimp the top corners with your fingers to decorate
20. Neaten the ends of the cake and remove excess chocolate plastic/modeling by trimming off a small bit of cake on both ends to reveal the pattern

Chocolate Plastique / Modelling Chocolate :

Ingredients :

• 200 gr / 7 oz dark chocolate (70% Cocoa content)
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml / 2 oz light corn syrup / glucose syrup / golden syrup
  

Directions :

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, stir occasionally
2. Once completely melted, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit
3. Stir in corn syrup / glucose syrop / golden syrup, it will seize up almost immediately, just keep stirring until mixed and it comes away from the side of the bowl
4. Transfer chocolate into a sealable bag, spread the chocolate out then seal the bag
5. Leave overnight or refrigerate for about 2 hours until completely firm
6. Turn out from the bag and knead on a surface dusted with powdered sugar, at first it will just break, but as you knead, it will warm up and start to become pliable
7. Knead until it’s pliable enough to roll out or mould, 5-10 mn.