Battenberg Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°Fan/Gas 4.
2. In a large bowl mix the butter, Tate & Lyle Light Brown Sugar and vanilla essence together with an electric hand mixer until soft and creamy for about 1 minute, then beat in the eggs a little at a time. Sift over the flour and ground almonds, lightly fold in with a metal spoon until you have a soft consistency which will easily drop from the spoon.
3. Split the mixture between 2 bowls. Add a little red food colouring to one half of the mixture to achieve a soft pink colour. Spoon both mixtures into cake tins and level out.
4. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed with a finger.
5. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely and discard the parchment. Cut into 4 long strips, roughly 3cm high and 4cm wide. Make sure all the pieces are the exact same size. To do this line them up next to each other and use a sharp serrated knife. 
6. Gently warm up the apricot jam or Strawberry Vanilla & Amaretto Apricot Jam. Once smooth, spread on the edges of the cake slices.
7. Put together the cake slices like a chequerboard, pushing down to stick them closely together. 
8. Roll the marzipan out to a 3-4mm thickness. Place the cake in the centre, folding the marzipan over and trimming away any excess, leaving a small overlap to seal together.
9. Place in the fridge and leave to set for an hour before serving. 

You will also need 2 x 20cm (8”) deep rectangular or square tins, greased and the bases lined with parchment paper.