18 Traditional British Desserts to Celebrate King Charles' Coronation

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Battenberg Cake

With its marzipan wrapping and harlequin sponge, this fun and celebratory cake is thought to have originated during Queen Victoria's era. Some say it was created to mark the wedding of her granddaughter, Princess Victoria, to Louis of Battenberg.

Ingredients for 2 cakes:

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 cup (225 g) butter
  
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (260 g) flour
  
• 2 drops red food coloring
• 2 drops almond extract
• 1 cup (330 g) apricot jam
  
• 2 blocks white marzipan

Instructions:

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).  Grease two 7x7 square pans.
2. Cream the sugar and butter together. Beat in the 3 eggs one by one, and add the vanilla extract. Stir in the baking powder, salt and flour.
3. Divide the preparation into two bowls. Add the red food coloring to 1 bowl. This should create a pink color. Add the almond extract to the other bowl.
4. Add the pink batter to one pan, and the white batter to the other. Bake for 30 min. in the preheated oven. Remove the cakes from oven, let rest for 5 min. then unmold and let cool on a wire rack.
5. Trim the edges of each cake so that they're straight and square. Cut each cake lengthwise into 4 equal-size strips. Each strip should be as wide as the cake is thick and trimmed so that they're exactly the same.
6. In a saucepan, heat the jam briefly over medium-low heat. Using the jam as "glue", spread it on the sides to combine 2 pink and 2 white strips together in a checkerboard fashion. This should create a rectangular cake with the checkerboard pattern visible at each end. Spread the remaining jam over the top, bottom and sides of the cake. Repeat with the remaining strips and jam.
7. Trim the marzipan to the length of the cakes. Lift and smooth over each cake, turning them so that the surface is covered with the marzipan. Pinch to seal.
8. Chill before serving, and use a sharp knife to slice the cakes.
9. Enjoy!