Daring Bakers - Chocolate and Hazelnut Battenberg with Marzipan

Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease. 

I was glad to have the opportunity to try this cake and decided for a chocolate and hazelnut combination with a red berries jam filling and marzipan. The hardest part was to cover it in marzipan but it was worth the effort. Thanks!

Chocolate and Hazelnut Battenberg:

Servings: +- 8
Ingredients
¾ cup (1½ sticks) 175gm / 6 oz Unsalted Butter, softened & cut in cubes
¾ cup / 175gm / 6 oz Caster Sugar
1¼ cups / 175gm / 6 oz Self-Raising Flour
3 Large Eggs, room temp
½ cup / 65gm / 2 1/3 oz Ground Almonds
3/4 tsp / 3½ gm Baking Powder
3 tsp (15 ml) Milk
½ tsp (2½ ml) Vanilla Extract
3 tbsp Cocoa powder
3 Tbsp / 25gm / 1 oz hazelnuts, roughly chopped

To Finish
Marzipan
Red berries jam

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan Assisted/Gas Mark 4
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. OR Prepare Battenberg tin by brushing the tin with melted butter and flouring
5. Whisk together dry ingredients (except hazelnuts and chocolate) and combine with the wet ingredients in a large bowl (except vanilla and milk) and beat together just until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth
6. Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the vanilla, 1½ teaspoons milk and chopped hazelnuts
7. Spoon the walnut mixture into the one side of the prepared baking tin
8.  Add the remaining 1½ teaspoon milk and chocolate to the remaining batter, stir until just combined
9. Spoon the chocolate batter into the other half of the prepared baking tin
10. Smooth the surface of the batter with a spatula, making sure batter is in each corner
11. Bake for 25-30mins until the cake is well risen, springs back when lightly touched and a
toothpick comes out clean (it should shrink away from the sides of the pan)
12. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out to cool thoroughly on a wire rack
13. Once completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated knife
14. Cut each sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge
15. Neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible
 16. Spread a layer of red berries jam onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern (one yellow next to one brown. On top of that, one brown next to one yellow)
18. 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
19. Spread the top of the cake with a thin layer of jam
20. Place the cake on the marzipan, jam side down
21. Spread jam onto the remaining three sides
22. Press the marzipan around the cake, making sure the join is either neatly in the one corner, or will be underneath the cake once turned over
23. 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
24. Neaten the ends of the cake and remove excess marzipan by trimming off a small bit of cake on both ends to reveal the pattern