Ingredients
- 220g soft butter
- 200g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 150g self-raising flour
- 70g ground almonds
- ½tsp pink food colouring
- 150g apricot jam
- 1 pack white fondant icing, 250g (left at room temperature for two hours to make it easier to work)
- Cornflour, for dusting a work surface
- Preheat the oven to 185 degrees and line two loaf tins with parchment paper. Place the butter and sugar in a mixer and beat with a whisk until light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one until incorporated, followed by the flour and ground almonds. Mix until you have a light cake batter.
- Divide the mix evenly in two, then place one half of the mix into one of the prepared loaf tins, spreading it out evenly into the corners and sides with a spatula until flat. Place the other half of the mix into a mixing bowl and add the pink food colouring. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir well and mix the food colouring evenly through the cake batter, then place the pink batter into the other loaf tin, spreading it out evenly until flat.
- Place the two loaf tins in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes at 185 degrees until golden brown and cooked through. A cake tester inserted into the centre of the cakes should come out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for five minutes, then turn them out on to a wire rack, remove the parchment paper, and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Use a ruler to help you trim and cut two even slices lengthways from each sponge loaf. Then square them off neatly so they are all the same size (the faces of each should be about 2.5cm x 2.5cm and they should be around 20cm long).
- Dust a work surface lightly with some cornflour so the fondant icing won’t stick to it. Place the block of icing on the dusted surface and roll it out with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 20cm x 30cm and 3-4mm thick (the shorter sides of the fondant should be the same length as the sponge slices).
- Heat the jam in a small pot with a tablespoon of water to loosen it. Brush one of the golden lengths of sponge with the jam and lay it across the shorter side of the fondant near the edge. Then brush the pink sponge length with the jam and place it beside the golden one, sticking them together. Brush the remaining two sponge lengths with jam and place them on top, alternating colours to give a checkerboard effect.
- Carefully lift up the fondant icing and smooth it over the cake tightly with your hands. Trim the excess off, leaving a very small overlap, then crimp the two edges together using fork.
- Slice and serve.
