A delightful twist on a classic British bake. This recipe, for an exquisite chocolate matcha Battenberg cake, features alternating layers of rich chocolate and vibrant matcha sponge cake. The checkered pattern is visually stunning and the whole thing, wrapped in homemade marzipan, is deliciously satisfying.
It’s rare for me to post something so close to the day I’ve actually made it, as I seem to have a permanent backlog. But this one has jumped the queue as time is running out. I’ve been admiring Battenberg cakes I’ve seen on various blog sites for a while, but I’ve managed to ignore the urge to make one until now. To be honest, I was a little nervous and suspected it might be beyond my capabilities.
As this month’s We Should Cocoa challenge is marzipan, however, I reckon I should stop wimping out and give this rather gorgeous looking retro Battenberg cake a try.
What Is Battenberg Cake?
Despite its German name, Battenberg cake is very much a British creation. It was first baked to honour the marriage of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Victoria in 1884. It’s been available commercially in the UK ever since.
But what exactly is it? It’s a clever design of two differently coloured sponge cakes in a two-by-two check pattern. Traditionally they are pink and yellow. The sponge squares are sandwiched with apricot jam and the whole thing is wrapped in marzipan to hold it all together. The sponge is lightly flavoured with almond extract, which is then highlighted by the marzipan.
Its checkered pattern reflects that of the Battenberg family coat of arms.
Chocolate Matcha Battenberg Cake
Of course, I wasn’t interested in making the traditional pink and yellow version, oh no. I wanted something a little different and it had to contain chocolate. As I also like the combination of matcha and chocolate, I decided to use up the last of the matcha sample I was sent a few months ago.
For my sponge I used the recipe from Fiona Cairns’ Bake & Decorate. However, as it was for We Should Cocoa and also for an Easter tea with friends, I thought I ought to make my own marzipan.
Marzipan
I had a look at the ingredients on some commercial marzipan and that sealed the deal for me: only 24% almonds compared to my 60%, the rest of it was sugar. In the back of my mind, however, I had a vague memory of struggling with my last attempt at marzipan which was crumbly and difficult to roll.
How right I was to doubt the marzipan! This is where I really came a cropper as the marzipan just cracked and wouldn’t hold together.
The marzipan may have been crumbly, but it tasted delicious. It was almondy, of course, but not overpoweringly so and certainly not overly sweet.
Sponge
I felt I spent an inordinate amount of time making a mess rather than baking a cake. It was really a bit too faffy for me, what with measuring the sponge, “cutting, glueing”, wrapping etc. But I persevered.
And what did I do with the cake offcuts? Traditionally, these are cook’s perks. But I decided not to waste them, so I made cake truffles with them instead.
Taste
Still, although this cake may not have looked quite as I’d envisaged or hoped, it was most certainly delicious. The sponge was firm but moist and the two flavours complemented each other nicely (I did try the trimmings). Both the cocoa and the matcha flavours were present, but neither dominated.
This cake has yet to be tasted by anyone else, but I’m feeling fairly confident that everyone will enjoy it later on today, crumbling and cracked marzipan notwithstanding.
If it hadn’t been for the We Should Cocoa challenge, I would never have made a Battenberg. I’m not sure I’m likely to make it again, either. If I do, I’ll use bought marzipan, unless someone out there can explain the arcane mysteries of successful, pliable marzipan to me.
Chocolate Matcha Battenberg Update
Now I’m back from the moorland tea party, I can now report. Everyone enjoyed the chocolate matcha Battenberg cake and no-one remarked on the cracked marzipan. It was part of a sumptuous teatime spread in a friend’s garden up on Bodmin Moor.
Other Matcha Cake Recipes You Might Like
- Matcha blondies
- Matcha & lemon madeleines
- Matcha, chocolate & rhubarb marble cake
- Matcha marmalade cakes
- Matcha & white chocolate cupcakes
- Triple layer matcha chocolate cake
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this chocolate matcha Battenberg cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making checkered cakes, or indeed marzipan?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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Choclette x
Chocolate Matcha Battenberg Cake. PIN IT.
Chocolate Matcha Battenberg Cake
Ingredients
Marzipan
- 175 g ground almonds
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3 tsp lemon juice
- 3 drops almond extract
Sponge
- 200 g flour (I used half wholemeal spelt flour and half plain white)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 200 g golden caster sugar granulated is okay to use too
- 200 g unsalted butter cubed and softened
- 3 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
- 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 2 tsp matcha green tea powder
- 3 tsp cocoa powder
- 8 tbsp apricot jam (I used some homemade marrow and ginger jam)
Instructions
Marzipan
- In a large bowl, stir the almonds and icing sugar together.175 g ground almonds, 100 g icing sugar
- Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk, lemon juice, almond extract and a splash of water.1 large egg yolk, 3 tsp lemon juice, 3 drops almond extract
- Mix with a spoon then bring everything together with your hands to form a ball. If it feels too dry or doesn’t come together to form a paste, add another splash of water.
Sponge
- Sift the flours into a bowl with the baking powder. You can use the same bowl you made the marzipan in – no need to wash it up first.200 g flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- Add the sugar, butter and eggs.200 g golden caster sugar, 200 g unsalted butter, 3 large eggs
- Using a hand held mixer, beat everything together until just combined.
- Add the yoghurt and beat a little more.2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- Spoon half of the mixture into second bowl.
- Add the matcha to one bowl and the cocoa to the other bowl and mix until each is combined.2 tsp matcha green tea powder, 3 tsp cocoa powder
- Line a 23 cm (9″) square cake tin with baking paper or grease an equivalent sized silicone mould. Create suitably sized upright divider out of baking paper and place it in the middle of the tin.
- Spoon one mixture into one half of the tin and the other mixture into the second half. Level the tops.
- Bake in the middle of a preheated oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 20 minutes or until risen and firm to the touch.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Assembly
- Trim the cake to get rid of any baked or raggedy ends, then cut into 4 equal rectangles measuring 4.5 x 21 cm.
- In a small pan, warm the jam until its runny, then brush two of the rectangle tops and two of the long sides with it. Make sure one is matcha and the other chocolate.8 tbsp apricot jam
- Then "glue" the jammed slices together to form a rectangle with alternate colour segments resembling a checkerboard. In other words, place a matcha slice on top of a chocolate one and a chocolate one on top of a matcha slice, then press them together, using more jam, if necessary.
- Roll out the marzipan to a squarish rectangle measuring 18cm x 21 cm.
- Brush the outside of the checkered cake with more jam and wrap the marzipan tightly around it, leaving the short ends bare.
- Score a criss-cross over the top of the cake, if liked.
Choclette says
Canada – thanks for your kind comment and also for the marzipan advice.
Canada says
Your battenburg sounds amazing! I just love the sound of the flavour combinations you’ve got going on!!
Marzipan can be a fickle thing… I make mine as a centre for chocolates and my recipe is completely different! I would say that the sugar plays a pretty big role, my recipe uses 3x as much icing sugar as almonds!! If you seive the almonds as well you’ll be getting rid of the bigger bits and making it a lot smoother and a bit easier to work with. I also usually make it in a food processor, just because it’s so much quicker and it’s easy to see when it’s got the right consistency. It sounds like the marzipan is too dry here, so you would need more liquid, but honestly, I wouldn’t add water, I’d make up a syrup instead (equal parts water and sugar, by weight) and add that.
Don’t give up!!
Choclette says
Maggie – Thank you.
Joanna – Yes, matcha is rather expensive. I had no idea of this when CT bought some back from Japan and used it with gay abandon – rather regret it now. Not sure I’d go as far as to say I was a fan of battenberg – not sure I’d be making it again in a hurry.
Johanna – Thank you. Probably because the commercial ones are so sweet you can’t really taste the marzipan :-S
Johanna GGG says
how didn’t I know that battenberg cake is traditionally covered in marzipan – love your alternate filling – makes it much more attractive to me than pink and yellow
Joanna @ Zeb Bakes says
Yay! Another Battenburg fan! It looks lovely.I’ve wanted to try matcha for ages but everywhere I look it is so expensive, maybe it just is?
I laughed when you said about making a mess. It is a messy cake no doubt about it. I kept all the trimmings from mine in the freezer and then one day (ahem) I just ate them.
Maggie says
What a great idea for a battenberg. The green and brown look really good together.
Choclette says
Katie – thank you. I’ve been a matcha fan ever since first using it in baking last year.
CityHippy – no, don’t give up on making your own marzipan – it’s so much nicer than bough could ever be. Just don’t use my recipe or knead it more than I did. And if I can make some semblance of a battenberg, you most certainly could.
Chele – thanks
Viking – it is a bit of a nostalgia cake.
Hazel – thank you. I was pleased just to have made the attempt.
Hazel says
What a great idea and challenge! I think you did great!
The Viking says
I haven’t had battenberg in years and it’s brought back some great memories.
Chele says
It looks so pretty, I love the colours.
cityhippyfarmgirl says
I was umming and ahhing over Zeb bakes’ Battenberg last year… These cakes fascinate me. They look awesome, but not sure I would be able to put one together.
The marzipan…phew! I adore the stuff, and have certainly thought long and hard about making it, but my thoughts keep falling back to a 50’s cookbook of mine that says…”don’t bother trying to make it, buy it.” After seeing your troubles, maybe they are right? I’m sure I would have eaten every crumb of yours though Choclette. A sumptuous spread indeed!
Katie says
Wow looks wonderful and I’m impressed you made your own marzipan. Love the use of matcha too. I’ve yet to find/bake with that myself. The tea spread looks great!
Choclette says
MangoCheeks – I wouldn’t know where to get matcha other than online or a friendly visitor from Japan. Commercial Battenberg is way too sweet – this is so much nicer 😉
Choclette says
Foodiva – thank you. Yes indeed, matcha and chocolate go really well together. Your WSC entry looks amazing.
Kath – it was, my camara didn’t do it justice and the garden was looking fantastic with loads of apple trees covered in blossom.
Corina – I had a piece of bought Battenberg somewhere recently and could barely bring myself to eat it, it was so sweet.
Janice – thank you
Jac – and very nice it was too 🙂
Jacqueline says
That is indeed a spead. Mmmmmmmm 😛
Janice says
Great job on the battenburg!
mangocheeks says
As soon as I saw the recipe, I was going to ask you where you got the match from as I have been struggling to find some where I am, then I read your entry and noted acquisition 🙂
I waqs not that keen on Battenberg when I was a child, but i have to say this up-dated version is very appealing, fantastic colours too.
Corina says
Battenberg Cake reminds me of my childhood. It looks lovely and moist too.
Kath says
What a lovely looking tea party too!
Foodiva says
Gorgeous looking battenberg cake you made here. I like the matcha with chocolate pairing, made the cake that bit more interesting. Bet it was as delicious as it looked! I just put up my post for this challenge today. Check it out and tell me what you think!
Choclette says
Kath – thank you. Faffy food is not my favourite sort of baking, but even though it all fell apart when cut into, it still had a certain wow factor.
Suelle – thank you. The cake tasted really good thankfully. Interesting on the marzipan front. The book I was using said not to handle it too much as it would go oily. My mother, who also made hers this year, kneaded hers for ages which made it soft, pliable and easy to roll – she had no problems with it cracking. Will have to try her method next time. It does taste so much better than commercial marzipan though, so definitely worth the effort.
Hanna – thank you. Matcha and chocolate are a great combination.
Aveen – I nearly changed my mind about making this when I saw yours, especially as it looked so good. But, I thought it was sufficiently different with the matcha not to matter too much. I’d be interested to have your recipe for cooked marzipan if you wouldn’t mind sending it – sounds interesting.
Chocolate Here – thank you. How could your mum fail to like a chocolate version?
Chocolate Here says
Looks excellent. Battenbury is my Mum’s favourite .. I wonder if she’d like this chocolate version???
Aveen says
I love that you did a battenberg too! And I am so impressed that you made your own marzipan. I have a cake decorating book that has a recipe for a cooked marzipan that’s supposed to be easier to work with than the normal stuff, I’ll have to dig it out and send it to you if you fancy having a go 🙂
Hanna says
Beautiful twist on a classic! Kudos on the marzipan too!
Suelle says
Congratulations on attempting your own marzipan! The cake looks very pretty, and I’m sure the flavours will blend together well.
Kath says
I think it looks great. You should have seen my attempt at battenberg a few months back! It is a faff to make, but tastes good.