battenbergkuchen

Many of us have tasted the sweet, almond-infused delights of Battenberg Cake. The distinctive sponge, coloured pink and yellow, has an outer shell of marzipan.

It was created by British chefs in 1884 to honour the wedding of Viktoria von Hessen-Darmstadt (Queen Victoria's grand-daughter) to Prince Ludwig Alexander von Battenberg. The four pink and yellow squares in the cake represent the Battenberg Princes Ludwig Alexander, Alexander Joseph, Heinrich Moritz and Franz Joseph.

During World War One anti-German feeling grew in Britain and Prince Ludwig von Battenberg changed his name to Mountbatten. The cake continued to be called Battenberg and thanks to Mr Kipling and his exceedingly good team it remains a popular tea-time treat today.

Next week chefs in Year 5 will be following a German recipe for Battenberg cake and creating their own versions to be frozen and kept for the Jubilee picnic to be held at school in June.