Battenberg Cake for Roomie's Gluten Free Birthday Tea

What's an Afternoon Tea without the classic almond tastes of Battenberg Cake?
     Something we can't say in polite company.

Battenberg Cake is the one Tea-time treat Roomie insists upon and I knew I couldn't leave it out of her special day. One lament of those who maintain a gluten-free diet is that one doesn't just buy treats off the shelf from the local importers. So... off I went to find the perfect recipe to convert to gluten-free.

Here's the one I'm working from (with US measurements):

Butter: 1 1/2 sticks

Sugar:  1 cup

Gluten Free 1-1 conversion Flour:  1 1/8 cup

Gluten Free Almond Flour:  1/2 cup

Baking Powder:  2 teaspoons

Salt: 1 1/2 teaspoons 

Eggs:  x3

Vanilla Extract:  1/2 teaspoon

Almond Extract: 1/4 teaspoon

Apricot (or raspberry) Jam:  3 tablespoons

Gluten Free Marzipan: about 14 oz.

Oven at 350*

Mix all ingredients except extracts.

Separate batter into two bowls.

In pink, add vanilla extract and pink coloring.

In yellow, add almond extract.

Pour into greased baking pans, either square or loaf pans work best.

Batter ready to bake

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Cool 10 minutes in pan, 30 minutes out.

 

Cake pieces ready to trim

Trim the cake.  Quarter the cake lengthwise.

Roll out marzipan to 1/8" thick on a powdered sugar dusted surface.

Heat apricot jam in the microwave at 30 second intervals until thick liquid.

Brush marzipan with jam.

Covered with marzipan

Add one pink and one yellow cake piece, with jam between.   Brush with jam and add one yellow and one pink cake piece.

Bring marzipan up to cover, smooth sides.  (The ends get trimmed open so the checkerboard is seen.)

Use the remaining marzipan for decorations to your taste.

Trimmed ends and marzipan animals

Marzipan Animals

Roomie likes cats, so I tried my hand at cats for decoration. On one side is a standing oriental cat with the huge satellite ears. On top is a crouching cat stalking a tiny mouse. On the final side is a rose that somewhat fell apart.

Please NOTE: Some commercial marzipan is produced in factories with gluten products, so mind the ingredients list if cross-contamination is a concern. 

Cheers!