Battenberg Cake

Directions

1. Cut a piece of parchment paper to a size of 16x7x1/2-in. Fold parchment paper in half by bringing the two short ends together and making a crease in the middle; set aside. Cut a piece of foil to 12x7-in. Bring the two short sides together to fold it in half. Then fold again by the new short side into thirds to create a 6x2-in. folded piece of foil.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Place a rack in center of the oven. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-in. square baking pan with cooking spray. Drape parchment over the baking pan with crease facing up. Slide the folded foil under crease. Press parchment down into the pan on either side of the foil so that it sticks to the greased surface of the pan to create a dam to divide the pan into two sections. Smooth paper over the bottom and up the sides; adjust the dam so it's sitting in the center of the pan.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat flour, almond flour and softened butter until a cookie batter-like mixture forms. Sprinkle sugar, baking powder and salt over the butter mixture; beat on low until incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Beat in almond extract, vanilla extract and milk for 2-3 minutes or until ingredients are incorporated and batter is smooth.
4. Divide batter in half between two bowls. Add pink food coloring to one of the bowls; gently stir until mixed. Pour pink cake batter into one side of the prepared cake pan; pour the untinted batter into the other side. Smooth batter to fill the spaces completely.
5. Place pan in oven and bake 33-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Run a knife around the outside edges of both the pink and yellow cakes. Remove cakes from pan; peel off parchment paper; place cakes on a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to slice across the top of each cake, removing any doming to make the tops flat. Place one cake on top of the other, lining up the edges. Use a serrated knife to slice down along a long edge through both cakes to make a clean, even edge. Repeat on the other long side. Finally, cut down through the middle of the cakes, parallel to the long side, to cut them in half; this will create four long pieces of cake, two pink and two yellow.
7. Dust a large cutting board and rolling pin with confectioners' sugar. Open marzipan packages and combine into one ball. Roll out marzipan into a 1/4-in. thick layer. Use a paring knife and ruler to cut a rectangle big enough to wrap around the cake. To measure accurately, stack cake strips, two on the bottom and two on top. Measure the length of the cake and add 2 inches; this will be the short side of the rectangle. Measure the width and height of the four sides of cake; add these together, then add another 2-3 inches to account for the thickness of the marzipan; this is the long side of the rectangle.
8. Use a pastry brush to brush tops and long side of one yellow cake strip and one pink cake strip with warmed apricot jam. Place them top-down on the marzipan rectangle with the long sides of the cake parallel to the short side of the marzipan; push together. Brush these with more apricot jam. Brush top and sides of the other pink and yellow cake strips; place these on top, yellow on pink and pink on yellow. Push pieces all together to make a tight checkerboard pattern. Go over the top and long sides with more jam to make sure they're coated.
9. Fold up the sides of the marzipan rectangle and snuggly wrap it over the cake. Fold it up over the top; press the seams together, trimming away any extra. When finished, carefully pick up the wrapped cake and turn it over so the seam sits underneath. Gently smooth out any wrinkles or tears; use a moistened paper towel to dab away any streaks of confectioners' sugar.
10. Carefully move the wrapped cake to a serving platter. Use a sharp knife to slice 1/2-in. off each short end. Cut slices of cake.