{{short description|British sponge cake}} {{for|the style of vehicle livery|Battenburg markings}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Battenberg Cake | image = Battenbergcake.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = A homemade Battenberg cake with typical chequered pink-and-yellow squares | alternate_name = | country = England | creator = Unknown | type = Sponge cake | served = | main_ingredient = Flour, jam, marzipan | variations = | calories = | other = }}
'''Battenberg'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/Battenberg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101349/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/Battenberg |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |title=Battenberg |work=Oxford Dictionary |access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref> or '''Battenburg'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/battenburg |title=Definition of 'Battenburg' |work=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref> '''cake''' is a light sponge cake with coloured sections held together with jam and covered in marzipan. In cross section, the cake has a distinctive pink-and-yellow check pattern. It originated in England.
The chequered patterns on many emergency vehicles' liveries are officially referred to as Battenburg markings because of their resemblance to the cake.
== Recipe == [[File:Lyons battenberg cake.jpg|thumb|right|Battenberg cake by British food manufacturer Lyons]] [[File:Battenberg Cake with Tea.jpg|thumb|A coffee and walnut Battenberg with tea to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II]] thumb|Battenberg accompanied with tea Battenberg cakes are constructed 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.<ref name=BBC> {{cite journal | last = Cook | first = Sarah | title = Battenberg Cake | date = March 2011 | journal = Good Housekeeping | publisher = BBC | url = http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1120657/battenberg-cake | access-date = 10 May 2015 }} </ref>
== Origins == While the cake originates in England, its exact origins are unclear,<ref name="Jottings"> {{cite web | website= Food History Jottings | title= Battenburg Cake - the Truth | date= 31 August 2011 | url= http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/battenburg-cake-truth.html |last=Day|first=Ivan}} </ref><ref> {{cite web | website= Foods of England | title= Battenberg Cake | url= https://www.foodsofengland.info/battenbergcake.html | access-date= 21 April 2025 }} </ref> with early recipes also using the alternative names "Domino Cake" (recipe by Agnes Bertha Marshall, 1898), "Neapolitan Roll" (recipe by Robert Wells, 1898),<ref> {{cite web | website= Food History Jottings | title= Battenburg Cake History Again! | date= 18 April 2012 | url= http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/battenburg-cake-history-again.html | access-date= 10 May 2015 |last=Day|first=Ivan}} </ref> or "Church Window Cake".{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}
The cake was purportedly named in honour of the marriage of Princess Victoria, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884.<ref name="Nevin"> {{Cite web | title= Minor British Institutions: Battenberg cake | date= 13 November 2010 | website= The Independent | language= en-GB | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/minor-british-institutions-battenberg-cake-2130492.html | access-date= 2016-05-03 |last=Nevin|first=Charles}} </ref> It refers to the German town of Battenberg, Hesse, which was the seat of an aristocratic family who died out in the early Middle Ages and whose title was transferred in 1851 to Countess Julia Hauke on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine; then first Countess of Battenberg, afterwards Princess of Battenberg, known in Britain since 1917 as Mountbatten.<ref>John Ayto, ''The Diner's Dictionary: Food and Drink from A to Z'' (Oxford, England: Routledge, 1993), p. 22.</ref>
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 as Lyons, as this was easier to produce on a production line.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cloake |first=Felicity |author-link=Felicity Cloake |date=14 January 2016 |title=How to make the perfect battenberg cake |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/14/how-to-make-the-perfect-battenberg-cake |access-date=9 October 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
According to ''The Oxford Companion to Food'', the name "Battenberg cake" first appeared in print in 1903.<ref>Davidson, Alan, ''The Oxford Companion to Food'', 3rd ed. (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2014), [https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 p. 67].</ref> 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).<ref name="Jottings" /><ref>In the 1907 edition, see [https://books.google.com/books?id=FP8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA136 p. 136].</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Food}} * List of foods named after people
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
{{Commons category|Battenberg cake}}
{{Cakes}} {{English cuisine}}
Category:British cakes Category:Marzipan Category:Victorian cuisine Category:Sponge cakes Category:Foods with jam