Biscoff Battenberg Is A Modern Twist On A '70s Classic

The '70s called and they want their dessert ideas back. Well tough luck, they're ours now, because Battenberg is having a *moment* and now we've discovered a mouth-watering new twist on this iconic cake. Food blogger Beth, who runs an account called Vecreation, has come up with a Lotus Biscoff version of the traditional recipe that's not only kitsch AF but tasty too. Oh, and did I mention it's vegan? But the question is, how do you make a Biscoff Battenberg?

Biscoff has long been a friend to bakers – especially those who try to avoid animal products in their recipes. Whether it's vegan Biscoff fudge, cupcakes, or just the plain old biscuits themselves, Lotus is here for all your cruelty-free snack needs.

As you may have already guessed, Vecreation's blog is focused on vegan recipes and this cake is one of many exciting treats shared on there. There's also vegan fondant fancies and vegan Charlie caterpillar cakes.

But back to the Battenburg. As with regular Battenbergs, this baked good is a little on the laborious side as you'll need to make two sponges to create that checkerboard look. On top of that, you'll need to master your fondant icing skills as well. I can assure you, although it's a slightly time consuming recipe, it's not too hard and you'll enjoy your time consuming it after it's done.

Ingredients:

Biscoff Sponge:

• 150g plain flour
• 70g Light brown soft sugar
• 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 60g Biscoff spread
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 130g Oatly barista milk
• 80g Biscoff spread
• 2 tsp Sunflower oil

Vanilla Sponge:

• 150g Plain flour
• 70g Caster sugar
• 60g Naturli vegan block (or butter)
• 1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
• 105g Oatly barista milk
• 1 tbsp Dr Oetker Madagascan vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice

Biscoff Fondant:

• 220g Icing sugar
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• 80g Biscoff spread
• 60g Liquid glucose/ glucose syrup
• 1 tbsp Water
• 5 heaped tbsp Biscoff spread for filling

Method

Step One

Biscoff Sponge:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 150C
2. Prepare two 2lb loaf tins by greasing them and lining them with baking parchment. If you haven't got loaf tins, you can divide and line an 8" square cake tin, in order to bake them both in the same tin at the same time.
3. In a bowl add flour, sugar and cinnamon, mix, then add the 60g Biscoff spread, rub them all together with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the baking powder and mix well.
4. Only to a low heat, melt together the 130g milk and 80g Biscoff spread and mix well, add the sunflower oil and and stir. Add the wet mixture to the flour and mix until just combined.
5. Pour the batter into your baking tray and bake until the middle has just firmed to the touch, (around 30 minutes) don't over bake, the sponge dries out quickly.
6. When ready, allow to cool.

Step Two

Vanilla sponge:

1. Mix the milk, lemon juice and vanilla together and stir, in order to curdle the milk.
2. In a bowl, add the flour and sugar, mix, then add the vegan block (or butter), rub together with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the baking powder and mix well.
3. Add the milk mixture to the flour and stir until it has just combined.
4. Bake and allow to cool as above.

Step Three

Fondant:

1. In a bowl, mix your icing sugar, Cinnamon, and Biscoff and rub together to form fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add the liquid glucose and water, combine with your hands (it's a messy business, so if you have a mixer you can use that.)
3. Knead the mixture until it is all nice and blended and you have a gorgeous Biscoff fondant! Keep it covered or wrapped in cling film.

Step Four

In the interest of ease (and this not descending into utter chaos), it's better all round if you look at this assembly instruction video shared on the Vecreation blog.

Now all you need to do is get the kettle on and get eating.