 A homemade Battenberg cake with typical chequered pink-and-yellow squares | |
| Type | Sponge cake |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | England |
| Created by | Unknown |
| Main ingredients | Flour, jam, marzipan |
Battenberg[1] orBattenburg[2]cake is a lightsponge cake with coloured sections held together with jam and covered inmarzipan. Incross section, the cake has a distinctive pink-and-yellowcheck pattern. It originated in England.
The chequered patterns on many emergency vehicles' liveries are officially referred to asBattenburg markings because of their resemblance to the cake.
Bakers[who?] construct Battenberg cakes by baking yellow and pink almond sponge-cakes separately, then cutting and combining the pieces in a chequered pattern. The cake is held together by jam and covered with marzipan.[3]
While the cake originates in England, its exact origins are unclear,[4][5]with early recipes also using the alternative names "Domino Cake" (recipe byAgnes Bertha Marshall, 1898), "Neapolitan Roll" (recipe by Robert Wells, 1898),[6]or "Church Window Cake".[citation needed]
The cake was purportedly named in honour of the marriage ofPrincess Victoria, a granddaughter ofQueen Victoria, toPrince Louis of Battenberg in 1884.[7] It refers to the German town ofBattenberg, Hesse, which was the seat of an aristocratic family who died out in the earlyMiddle Ages and whose title was transferred in 1851 toCountess Julia Hauke on the occasion of her marriage toPrince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine; then first Countess of Battenberg, afterwardsPrincess of Battenberg, known in Britain since 1917 asMountbatten.[8]
The food historian Ivan Day refuted the idea that the four panels are in reference to four princes or houses, as older recipes show as many as 25 panels. He said the four panels were likely standardised by industrial bakers such asLyons, as this was easier to produce on aproduction line.[9]
According toThe Oxford Companion to Food, the name "Battenberg cake" first appeared in print in 1903.[10] However, a "Battenburg cake" appears in Frederick Vine,Saleable Shop Goods for Counter-Tray and Window … (London, England: Office of the Baker and Confectioner, 1898).[4][11]
