Battenberg Cake

• Cake
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• Red food colouring
• Marzipan
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat oven 350u0b0 F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8" square baking tin. Cut out a piece of parchment paper to divide cake batter in half down the middle. Fold a strip in half and fold out flaps at the bottom to look like an upside down T. This will keep both batters separate from one another while the cake bakes.
2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed, until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
3. Combine flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to cake batter and gently mix to combine. Then add half of the milk. Repeat adding flour and milk, ending with flour mixture. Mix in almond extract.
4. Evenly divide the batter between two bowls. I like to use a scale to evenly divide batter. Color one batter with a few drops of red food coloring. Pour into prepared tin, with plain batter on one side and pink batter on the other. Bake in center rack of oven until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning cake out onto a rack to cool completely.
5. While the cake is baking, make the marzipan. Combine almonds, icing sugar and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well to combine. Add egg and almond extract. Mix until mixture starts to bind together. Knead until marzipan is smooth. Shape into a rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
6. Trim ends, top and sides of cakes so the cakes are the same size and are equal sized rectangles. Slice each cake in half lengthways to make four long rectangles.
7. Warm the apricot jam in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Press through a fine sieve. Brush the long side of one of the rectangle cake pieces with jam and sandwich it together with a sponge of the opposite color. Brush the tops of both cakes with jam and top with a piece of cake of the opposite color. Brush apricot jam on the inside long edge to make the cake stick together. Brush the top and sides of the cake with jam before placing the marzipan on.
8. Roll out the marzipan between two sheets of parchment paper into a large rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. The rectangle should be large enough to wrap around the cake completely, leaving the ends uncovered. You can measure the width of cake with a piece of string and roll out marzipan to same size, trimming the sides for a neat finish.
9. Place the cake upside down on the marzipan rectangle and wrap with marzipan, pressing sides gently to adhere. Try and have the marzipan seal in the bottom corner of the cake and press the edges together. Turn the cake upright and trim the marzipan on each end of the cake, if there is any excess.

cake, butter, sugar, eggs, flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, milk, almond, apricot jam, red food colouring, almond meal, icing sugar, sugar, egg, almond

Taken from food52.com/recipes/73508-battenberg-cake (may not work)