Recipes

Keep watching this space for news on our first book, we will add more recipes, but for now here's one of our faves!

We love a bit of retro/vintage cake action to create that nostalgic vibe at a party, well you gotta have something that sits right with the old classic cheese and pineapple hedgehog! We bring you Fancy Nancy Battenburg with a twist!

Fancy Nancy Red Velvet Style Battenburg

A fun twist on a classic, using more red food colouring to give your cake inside a bright red pop of colour rather than the soft pink and yellow we’d expect!

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (180C fan oven) gas mark 5. Line a 20cm square cake tin with two pieces of greaseproof paper to make two 10cm x 20cm oblongs, fold up the edge of each piece to come up to the height of the tin to create a center line in the middle of the tin, so you have effectively two rectangle cavities to fill in one tin, side by side.
2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together in a bowl until very pale and creamy.
3. Whisk in the eggs about a quarter at a time until its all combined, make sure its well mixed between each addition
4. Fold in the flour with a large metal spoon.
5. Spoon half of the sponge mixture into one oblongs section.
6. Add a small amount of red food colouring to the remaining half. The paste colours are really strong, so do this little by little until you get the sponge mix to a deep red, some brands vary so just do this by eye. When you bake the cake it will lighten so if you want it to be very deep red, add about half a tsp the remaining mixture, fold this in until its all combined. Spoon into the empty side of your tin.
7. Bake in the oven for approx 30-35min or until a skewer or sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Lift each oblong out and cool on a wire rack. You can do this the day before you need the cake if you prefer.
8. When you are ready to assemble your cake, heat up your apricot jam with the water in a heatproof bowl in a microwave until it boils or on a hob in a pan.
9. Trim the crust off each of the sponges with a bread knife and leave aside. Now cut each oblong in half to make four even-sized oblongs.
10. Roll out the marzipan using icing sugar to prevent it sticking to the surface to measure around 28cm x 20cm.
11. Spread the apricot jam over one side of sponge, except the ends. Put one white and one pink sponge together side by side, brush the top of this layer with apricot jam and assemble the next level by putting the other pink sponge onto the bottom white sponge and the other white sponge onto the bottom pink sponge to give you the chequerboard effect.
12. Cover all over the sponge, top, sides and ends and lay over the marzipan, pressing the sides gently down to completely cover the sponge. Carefully fli over to reveal the underside. now spread over a little more jam and cover the bas. Press this down in the middle to join, so the entire sponge is encapsulated in marzipan (or icing if using). Cut off any excess marzipan.
13. Turn the cake back over (to hide the join underneath) smooth over with your hands to give a nice shape and smooth surface. Serve in slices, use within 3 days.
14. Et voila a retro cake with a funky twist!

To store

Store in an airtight container for up to three days.