Battenburg Cake

[Northern Light]

My wife has baked them before. The pans are concentric circles. Pretty cool.

I saw another method online, in which you make plain layers of, say, chocolate and white and then cut out circles from the layers and fit them together. With the pans you would need to ensure that your cake batters took the same time to bake or you could have a mess of raw and overcooked cake.

 

[JOHN42768]

A piece of that cake makes a real great impression. And you get to eat it also.

 

[nitrofd]

We used to make a cake like in my father in laws bakery and it was called a checkerboard cake but it was 4 x 4 not 2 x 2 as shown .

 

[donna]

I love those checkerboard cakes. They are beautiful but I know a lot of work.

 

[nitrofd]

I love those checkerboard cakes. They are beautiful but I know a lot of work.

They are a pain in the butt to make.you have to use frozen cake or all you will get is trouble.

 

[Deleted User CS]

Interesting thoughts David. In a 2003 newspaper article, food historian Catherine Brown shared:

"But there was nothing to compare with the German pastry cooks' sophisticated use of marzipan, colours, shapes, flavours and allegorical designs. The British were impressed. They tried their hand at the German techniques and some native pastry cooks became almost as good as the Germans. Such was their confidence that when Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse-Darmstadt, married Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884, it was decided that a celebration cake was required, in their own design of course, but appropriately German in style to celebrate the marriage. What else to call it but a Battenberg cake? It was to be unique: a cake to stun British cake-lovers. They took inspiration from the German rococo style of architecture which featured gold (marzipan) with pastel colours (pink and yellow sponge)."


Per Wikipedia:
The cake was purportedly named in honour of the marriage of Princess Victoria, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884. The name refers to the town of Battenberg, Hesse in central Germany and is the seat of the aristocratic family known in Britain as Mountbatten.

Eleanor. Thanks for the information and answering my question. You always seem to thrill me and others on this forum with your intellectual acumen. David.

 

[Eleanor Rose]

your intellectual acumen

So you don't think I'm just another pretty face? Seriously David, thanks for taking me seriously. I do love to tease and joke around, but I also enjoy the more serious Civil War subjects as well. Granted, Battenburg cake isn't an example of that. You sir are the epitome of a gentleman.

 

[Deleted User CS]

E

So you don't think I'm just another pretty face? Seriously David, thanks for taking me seriously. I do love to tease and joke around, but I also enjoy the more serious Civil War subjects as well. Granted, Battenburg cake isn't an example of that. You sir are the epitome of a gentleman.

Eleanor. Thank You for the fine compliment. Now I know I have at least two friends on this forum. David.

 

[nitrofd]

E

Eleanor. Thank You for the fine compliment. Now I know I have at least two friends on this forum. David.

I think you may have more then two david,most just hide behind trees in the woods.

 

[donna]

David I think you have many friends on this forum. We all get along together and appreciate all we learn on here.

 

[Deleted User CS]

I think you may have more then two david,most just hide behind trees in the woods.

Thank You very much. David.

 

[Deleted User CS]

David I think you have many friends on this forum. We all get along together and appreciate all we learn on here.

Thank You very much. Donna.

 

[Schwallanscher]

Fun fact - The Battenburgs changed their name to Mountbatten during WWI because Battenburg was too German.

nope, they didn't - the battenbergs did that (berg = mountain, hill whatever); i don't know whether there was a castle (=burg) on that battenberg they are named for. if there was one it might have been named battenburg <- that's a bat-emoji btw

there's a good change the brits just got it wrong (i did not find the word battenburg in the german wiki -> rather no castle) @Waterloo50

i did find a graf johann jakob von battenburg-bronkhorst (died in 1630) but he seems to be a dead end

 

[LoriAnn]

Now I know I have at least two friends on this forum.

Everyone is correct. Your friend count is much higher than 2!

 

[Deleted User CS]

Everyone is correct. Your friend count is much higher than 2!

Thank You very much. David.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

For those who are curious about the process without using a special pan here's one of the shorter YouTube videos I found -

 

[LoriAnn]

For those who are curious about the process without using a special pan here's one of the shorter YouTube videos I found -

As I was watching this, I was thinking, "How did we learn things before YouTube?" I couldn't possibly count the number of subjects/techniques I've looked up on there over the years.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

As I was watching this, I was thinking, "How did we learn things before YouTube?" I couldn't possibly count the number of subjects/techniques I've looked up on there over the years.

This is so true! My one friend has been taking guitar lessons on YouTube and has become quite good. Much cheaper than an actually instructor. You can find just about anything on YouTube.

A teenager recently asked me what we did before Google. I said I used to pull out my trusty set of encyclopedias at home or one of those very comprehensive (and possibly extinct) Desk Reference Guides that gave you a little information about all sorts of random topics that may be useful on a daily basis, like how to address a formal letter to a bishop!

 

[LoriAnn]

This is so true! My one friend has been taking guitar lessons on YouTube and has become quite good. Much cheaper than an actually instructor. You can find just about anything on YouTube.

A teenager recently asked me what we did before Google. I said I used to pull out my trusty set of encyclopedias at home or one of those very comprehensive (and possibly extinct) Desk Reference Guides that gave you a little information about all sorts of random topics that may be useful on a daily basis, like how to address a formal letter to a bishop!

My kids can't get past the fact that we didn't have GPS.

On a food note, my favorite online chef ~ Chef John of Food Wishes ~ utilizes YouTube to teach his recipes. I still like a classic cookbook, for sure, but I really dig the "in person" feel of his videos. Instead of reading instructions and thinking, "Yuck. Too complicated." you watch him sort of casually move through the steps, and you're left thinking, "Huh. That really wasn't a big deal. I can do that." Which is what he was going for, I think.

 

[donna]

I love my cookbooks. That why I have so many. You tube is helpful. Guess I am just old-fashioned when it comes to written recipes.