BAKING SPECIAL

METHOD 1. Heat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4 and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. 2. To make the sponge, put the butter, sugar, flour, ground , baking powder, eggs and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until the mix comes together smoothly. 3. Spoon into the tin, spreading to the corners, and bake for 25-30 minutes – when you poke in a skewer, it should come out clean. 4. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling while you make the second sponge. 5. For the pink sponge, line the tin as above. Mix all the ingredients together as above, but add vanilla extract instead of almond and fold in some pink food colouring. Bake as before and cool. 6. To assemble, heat the jam in a small pan until runny, then sieve. Barely trim two opposite edges from the almond sponge, then well trim a third edge. Roughly measure the height of the sponge, then cutting from the well-trimmed edge, use a ruler to help you cut 4 slices each the same width as the sponge height. Repeat with the pink . 7. Take 2 of the almond slices and 2 pink slices and trim them so they are all the same length. Roll out one block on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to just over 20cm wide, then keep rolling Coconut Pyramids Battenberg Cake lengthways until the marzipan is roughly The simplest of – you could colour This classic favourite tastes even better 0.5cm thick. them pink with a few drops of food colouring when you make it yourself 8. Brush with apricot jam, then lay a pink Makes 12-15 INGREDIENTS and an almond slice side by side at one end INGREDIENTS For the almond sponge of the marzipan, brushing jam in between 2 medium egg whites 175g butter, very soft to stick the sponges, and leaving 4cm clear 125g desiccated coconut 175g golden caster sugar marzipan at the end. 185g caster sugar 140g self-raising flour 9. Brush more jam on top of the sponges, Rice paper 50g ground almonds then remaining 2 slices on top, 12 glacé cherries ½ tsp baking powder alternating colours to give a checkerboard 3 medium eggs effect. Trim the marzipan to the length of METHOD ½ tsp almond essence the cakes. 1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ 10. Carefully lift up the marzipan and For the pink sponge gas mark 4. Grease a baking tray. Whisk smooth over the cake with your hands, the egg whites until stiff then stir in the 1 x ingredients for almond sponge but but leave a small marzipan fold along the coconut and sugar. Pile onto the rice paper substitute vanilla essence for almond bottom edge before you stick it to the first in the shape of pyramids, leaving room for essence side. Trim the opposite side to match the them to spread a little. Pink food colouring size of the fold, then press the edges with 2. Bake in the oven for approximately To assemble the prongs of a fork. 15-20 minutes. Remove from the tray, 200g apricot jam 11. Keep in an airtight box or well wrapped in pop a cherry on top and leave to cool on a 500g ready-made marzipan cling film for up to 3 days. Can be frozen for wire rack. 2-3 tbsp icing sugar up to a month.

10 | SPRING 2016

008-015 Cakes and Bakes.indd 10 21/01/2016 16:50