Vegan Battenberg cake – this vegan version of the classic British cake is just as good as the original and is the perfect cake for almond lovers! A light almond sponge cake is arranged in a chequered pattern and wrapped in marzipan; it is easier to make than you might think! Step by step photos included.
This vegan Battenberg cake took me a fair bit of testing to get right, but it was so worth the effort! It looks and tastes just like I remember Battenberg cake did in my pre-vegan days.
It is moist with a tender crumb, a sweet almond flavour and plenty of marzipan. The perfect cake to serve for afternoon tea!
It may look like it is complicated to make but it is actually pretty straightforward and you don’t need any special equipment. Just a 20cm / 8in square cake tin, some baking parchment and tin foil.
It does take a little while to assemble and you do need to pay attention to detail if you want a perfectly straight, even cake; but it isn’t difficult.
What Is Batternberg Cake?:
Battenberg (or Battenburg) is a classic British cake consisting of a light, almond flavoured sponge coloured pink and yellow, arranged in a chequered pattern and wrapped in marzipan.
Early Battenberg cakes had nine squares but modern ones have a simpler four. Probably because it was easier to mass produce.
It’s origins are somewhat contested, though the commonly held belief is that the first Battenberg cake was baked in 1884 to celebrate Prince Louis of Battenberg marrying Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and Prince Philip’s grandmother. There is little documentary evidence to back up this claim however.
How To Make Vegan Battenberg Cake:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm/ 8in square cake tin.
Cut a piece of baking parchment about twice as wide as the tin – 20x40cm. Fold it in half widthways then push up the centre fold to make a pleat at least as high as the tin.
Fold a piece of tin foil over several times into a thick piece the same width as the tin and height as the pleat. Place it inside the pleat and then use this to line the tin, making sure that the pleat runs down the centre, dividing the tin into two smaller ones.
Leave a bit of parchment overhanging on either side of the tin to make it easier to remove the cakes from the tin later. If your tin isn’t non-stick then you will also need to line the other two sides with strips of baking parchment.
Place the self-raising flour, caster sugar, ground almonds, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
In a jug, whisk together the melted butter/margarine, non-dairy milk and vanilla and almond extracts.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine. Do not over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough, just mix until no dry lumps remain.
Using a scale for accuracy, pour half of the batter into a separate bowl and stir in a little bit of pink or red food colouring until you reach the desired shade, be careful not to add too much (I was a bit heavy handed and my cakes are slightly too pink).
Scrape the coloured batter into one half of the tin, and the uncoloured batter into the other half. Spread them level then bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then carefully lift them out onto a wire rack using the overhanging sides and the centre pleat. It really helps to have a second person to help you do this as the cakes are very delicate when warm. Peel off the parchment and leave them on the wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cakes are completely cold, trim the tops of them to level if necessary, they should be exactly the same height. (Mine baked up completely flat and I used a scale to divide the mixture in half so no trimming necessary).
Place one cake on top of the other and trim the long edges to neaten them. If you want perfect squares then use a tape measure – the cakes should be twice as wide as they are high. Mine were 4cm high so I trimmed them to be 8cm wide.
Slice the cakes in half lengthways so you have two long strips of each colour.
Spread a thin layer of apricot jam over the long side of one of the strips and stick a strip of the opposite colour to it.
Spread a thin layer of jam over the top of both of those strips and stick the remaining strips on top, spreading more jam in between the two, to form a chequered pattern – pink above white and white above pink.
Dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan into a rectangle about 20x38cm. Trim one of the short edges to neaten it.
Spread the top of the cake with jam then place it, jam side down, against the trimmed short edge. Spread jam over the rest of the cake (except the short ends).
Carefully roll the cake up in the marzipan so that it is fully encased. Trim the excess so that it overlaps about halfway across the cake. Brush it with a little bit of water and gently press it down to seal. Flip the cake so that the join is on the bottom.
Use a sharp knife to slice a piece off either end to neaten the cake and reveal the pattern. If you like you can gently score lines on the top of the cake with a knife to make a crisscross pattern.
Top Tips For The Best Vegan Battenberg Cake:
For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
Take time lining your tin to make sure that it is exactly divided in half.
To make sure that your cakes are exactly the same you should weigh the batter with a scale when you divide it in half. To do this I weigh the bowl before I add any of the ingredients and make a note of this number. Once you have finished making the batter, weigh the bowl again (this time with the batter in it). Take the weight of the full bowl and subtract the weight of the empty one, this gives you the weight of your batter. Divide that number in half and that tells you how much batter to weigh out into a separate bowl.
The cakes should be completely cold before you cut them otherwise they will be difficult to slice and you might not be able to get them neat. If you like you can bake the cakes the day before assembling and store them in an airtight container overnight.
To get perfect squares of cake you will need to use a ruler or tape measure. Start by making sure that both of the cakes are level and exactly the same height (if you used a scale to measure them out then they should be!). Measure how high the cakes are, mine were 4cm. Trim the long edges so that the cakes are twice as wide as they are high, so 8cm in my case. Then slice them in half lengthways so that you end up with four long rectangles that are 4cm wide and 4cm high (depending on your initial height measurement).
If the jam is too thick to spread, warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave until it is runny. Try and avoid spreading any large chunks of fruit onto the cake. Smooth jam would be best.
Apricot jam is traditional but you can use any flavour of jam you like, it is more for sticking everything together than for flavour.
Which Food Colouring To Use?:
You need to make sure that you use a bake stable gel food colouring. A lot of the food colourings that you can buy from supermarkets are not bake stable and your lovely pink cake will fade and turn brown as it cooks.
Not all food colourings are vegan friendly as they may use cochineal, so you will need to check the specific brand to make sure that it is safe.
I use Rainbow Dust ProGel pink colouring which is vegan friendly. (Available from Amazon and various other places).
How To Store Vegan Battenberg Cake:
This vegan Battenberg cake is best eaten within a day or two but it will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. It may become a little bit sticky after a day or so.
It does not need to be kept in the fridge unless it is very hot out.
Can I Freeze It?:
Yes. Wrap it well to prevent freezerburn and freeze for up to 1 month. Allow to defrost at room temperature.
The marzipan may become a little sticky upon defrosting so I don’t recommend making and freezing the cake in advance of serving it; just freeze any leftovers you may have.
More Classic British Cakes:
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Vegan Battenberg Cake
Vegan Battenberg cake - this vegan version of the classic British cake is just as good as the original and is the perfect cake for almond lovers! A light almond sponge cake is arranged in a chequered pattern and wrapped in marzipan; it is easier to make than you might think!
Ingredients
Cake
- 275 g (2 ¼ cups) self-raising flour
- 220 g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 80 g (⅔ cup) ground almonds
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 190 g (⅔ cup + 2 Tbsp) vegan block butter/margarine (I use Naturli Vegan Block or Stork block) melted
- 190 ml (⅔ cup + 2 Tbsp) unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best) room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp almond extract
- pink or red gel food colouring*
To Assemble
- apricot jam
- 500 g (17 ½ oz) marzipan
- icing sugar for rolling
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm/ 8in square cake tin.
-
Cut a piece of baking parchment about twice as wide as the tin - 20x40cm. Fold it in half widthways then push up the centre fold to make a pleat at least as high as the tin. Fold a piece of tin foil over several times into a thick piece the same width as the tin and height as the pleat. Place it inside the pleat and then use this to line the tin, making sure that the pleat runs down the centre, dividing the tin into two smaller ones. Leave a bit of parchment overhanging on either side of the tin to make it easier to remove the cakes from the tin later. If your tin isn't non-stick then you will also need to line the other two sides with strips of baking parchment. (See post above for step-by-step photos).
-
Place the self-raising flour, caster sugar, ground almonds, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
-
In a jug, whisk together the melted butter, milk and vanilla and almond extracts.
-
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine. Do not over-beat the batter.
-
Using a scale for accuracy, pour half of the batter into a separate bowl and stir in a little bit of food colouring until you reach the desired shade, be careful not to add too much.
-
Scrape the coloured batter into one half of the tin, and the uncoloured batter into the other half. Spread them level then bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
-
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then carefully lift them out onto a wire rack using the overhanging sides and the centre pleat. It really helps to have a second person to help you do this as the cakes are delicate when warm. Peel off the parchment and leave them on the wire rack to cool completely.
-
Once the cakes are completely cold, trim the tops of them to level if necessary, they should be exactly the same height. (Mine baked up completely flat and I used a scale to divide the mixture in half so no trimming necessary).
-
Place one cake on top of the other and trim the long edges to neaten them. If you want perfect squares then use a tape measure - the cakes should be twice as wide as they are high. Mine were 4cm high so I trimmed them to be 8cm wide.
-
Slice the cakes in half lengthways so you have two long strips of each colour.
-
Spread a thin layer of apricot jam over the long side of one of the strips and stick a strip of the opposite colour to it.
-
Spread a thin layer of jam over the top of both of those strips and stick the remaining strips on top, spreading more jam in between the two, to form a chequered pattern - pink above white and white above pink.
-
Dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan into a rectangle about 20x38cm. Trim one of the short edges to neaten it.
-
Spread the top of the cake with jam then place it, jam side down, against the trimmed short edge. Spread jam over the rest of the cake (except the short ends).
-
Carefully roll the cake up in the marzipan so that it is fully encased. Trim the excess so that it overlaps about halfway across the cake. Brush it with a little bit of water and gently press it down to seal. Flip the cake so that the join is on the bottom.
-
Use a sharp knife to slice a piece off either end to neaten the cake and reveal the pattern. If you like you can gently score lines on the top of the cake with a knife to make a crisscross pattern.
Recipe Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- *You need to make sure that you use a bake stable gel food colouring. A lot of the food colourings that you can buy from supermarkets are not bake stable and your lovely pink cake will fade and turn brown as it cooks. I use Rainbow Dust ProGel pink colouring which is vegan friendly. (Available from Amazon and various other places).
- Take time lining your tin to make sure that it is exactly divided in half.
- To make sure that your cakes are exactly the same you should weigh the batter with a scale when you divide it in half. To do this I weigh the bowl before I add any of the ingredients and make a note of this number. Once you have finished making the batter, weigh the bowl again (this time with the batter in it). Take the weight of the full bowl and subtract the weight of the empty one, this gives you the weight of your batter. Divide that number in half and that tells you how much batter to weigh out into a separate bowl.
- The cakes should be completely cold before you cut them otherwise they will be difficult to slice and you might not be able to get them neat. If you like you can bake the cakes the day before assembling and store them in an airtight container overnight.
- To get perfect squares of cake you will need to use a ruler or tape measure. Start by making sure that both of the cakes are level and exactly the same height (if you used a scale to measure them out then they should be!). Measure how high the cakes are, mine were 4cm. Trim the long edges so that the cakes are twice as wide as they are high, so 8cm in my case. Then slice them in half lengthways so that you end up with four long rectangles that are 4cm wide and 4cm high (depending on your initial height measurement).
- If the jam is too thick to spread, warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave until it is runny. Try and avoid spreading any large chunks of fruit onto the cake. Smooth jam would be best.
