It all started with a little conversation like this, exactly one year ago...
ME: I’d like a blog…when I’m older I’ll start my own blog.
SISTER:Why not just start one now?
ME: *long pause* Because I can’t!
SISTER: Why? You bake enough!
ME: *long pause*
A couple of hours and some pootling on Blogger later, Teen Baker was born!
I can’t believe that it has been a whole year since I started, with my first bake of Welsh Cakes! Although I don’t want this to become a soppy speech, I do feel like I’ve come a long way in this one year! And I do want to thank all you readers who comment here because thats what keeps me going! Marie, Steph, Jessy, Ash, George – and everyone! Thank you – I hope Teen Baker has many more years to come :)
To celebrate my first blogoversary, I made a Blogoversary Battenberg :)
I’ve always liked battenberg cakes, even if purely for their pink and yellow checked prettiness. The thought of someone thinking, “hmm, if I dyed half my cake pink…and then stacked it checkerboard style..wouldn’t that be good?” just makes me smile :) In reality, the battenberg cake origin is not 100% certain but is thought to have been created in honour of the royal 1884 marriage between Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and the Prince Louis of Battenberg. The four cake squares in the cake are thought to represent all four Battenberg princes: Louis, Alexander, Henry, and Francis-Joseph.
Lots of desserts which look extra pretty often include extra hassle, extra work. Other than the final assembly, and perhaps one extra bowl – battenberg dispels this myth! Once you start investigating recipes and actually baking it: you realise how simple it is: just a sponge dyed different colours, layered and wrapped in marzipan! Proper layered sponge cakes are way more complicated because of the balancing act that goes on: with a battenberg loaf as long as the little rectangles of cake are even, the assembly is a pretty simple job.
I am proud of this cake and its checked glory – it tasted mighty good too :) I found the recipe
here, except I used shop bought marzipan. This battenberg cake proves that again you can easily bake things which you normally buy! Hopefully its success is a good omen for the coming Teen Baker years!
PS. Im off on my summer holiday for two weeks now, but I have scheduled posts which should hopefully come up - including the most delicious ice cream, and part 2 of the chocolate museum!
This cake was also important in another way: it saved the baking day. My Mum looked through my whole list of bookmarked bakes – that’s a selection of 340 cakes, pies, ice creams, muffins, cookies, doughnuts, tarts and more – and found not one that she liked. (Update: she would like to add there were many that she liked, just none that she fancied that day.) Eventually, we found this cake that suited us both. Not too rich for her, summery enough for me. I can always rely on a Rachel Allen recipe to unite us! 
Luckily it lived up to expectations – the recipe delivered a really moist, flavoursome cake with plenty of lime zing but a touch of sweetness from the rosewater. My notes on this cake would be to take care with the drizzle. When I made it, I added the minimum 1tbsp of rosewater which seemed like a lot and certainly smelt and tasted strong when I tested it, but once it’s competing with the lime in the cake I felt it got a bit lost. Rosewater is always a flavour to be careful with to prevent bakes tasting soapy, but in this cake I think you can definitely add more than you think. The generous dose of drizzle also means the cake keeps really well for a few days – if you can get it to last that long! You can find the recipe here – enjoy!
