I can't believe my younger sister has just turned 20. It seems like yesterday that we were both back in school worrying about boys and spots and wishing the school holidays would come around faster. I certainly don't wish time away now- where on earth does it go? Despite the fact that Helen is no longer a teenager and I'll be turning 22, we're still both really young at heart. We love disney and teddies and generally being silly and I hope that this will never change! Anyway, this year I planned to make her a battenberg cake because she likes those mini Mr Kipling ones and I have never made battenberg before so I wanted to have a go. As usual, I turned to Leith's Baking Bible for the recipe but I actually used a combination of the battenberg recipe and a madeira cake recipe on the next page. The result was a wonderfully moist, light sponge due to the addition of ground almonds.
I stuck the cake pieces together with a good layer of apricot jam (mixed with a little amaretto for extra almond flavour!) and covered the whole thing in marzipan to keep all the moisture inside. I didn't tell Helen that it was a battenberg cake inside so she had a pleasant suprise when she cut the first slice! The decorations were all made out of coloured marzipan, rolled out and cut into shapes with mini cutters- time consuming but the end result was worth it! Pretty huh?
On a final note, my dad also thought it was the best sponge I'd ever made so my baking skills must be improving!
