The June 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy fromWhat the Fruitcake?!  . She chose to challenge everyone to make Battenberg Cake.  I never eat or make  battenberg cake before this challenge. Battenberg cake is a tasty  teatime treat that when cut in a cross section displays a wonderfully distinctive two-by-two check pattern of pink and yellow.  The dessert was made to celebrate the marriage between Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, and Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884.  
So, let  make some cake. The recipe itself is pretty simple . The interesting part comes in when you try to play with flavors . :)  I used lemon curd as a glue, fresh raspberry puree for coloring and chocolate plastic for wrapping. 
Recipe below is direct copy paste from Daring Baker's challenge. :)

Traditional Battenberg:

Servings: +- 8
Ingredients
¾ cup (1½ sticks) 175gm / 6 oz Unsalted Butter, softened & cut in cubes

¾ cup / 175gm / 6 oz Caster Sugar

1¼ cups / 175gm / 6 oz Self-Raising Flour

3 Large Eggs, room temp

½ cup / 65gm/ 2 1/3 oz Ground Almonds (Can be substituted with ground rice)

3/4 tsp / 3½ gm Baking Powder

½ tsp / 2½ ml Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp (1¼ ml) Almond Extract

Red Food Colouring, paste, liquid or gel ( I used 3 tbsp fresh raspberry puree )

To Finish
1/3 cup (80 ml) 100gm /3 ½ oz Apricot Jam ( lemon curd in my case :) )
1 cup / 225gm / 8 oz Marzipan, natural or yellow  ( I used milk chocolate plastique and  If you plane to use chocolate plastique too , make it a day ahead )

Directions:




Milk Chocolate Plastique

200gm /7 oz Good Quality Milk Chocolate (+-50% Cocoa content)
3 Tbsp / 45ml /1½ oz Light Corn Syrup / Glucose Syrup / Golden Syrup

Directions:
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, stir occasionally
2. Once completely melted, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit
3. Stir in corn syrup / glucose syrup / golden syrup, it will seize up almost immediately, just keep stirring until mixed and it comes away from the side of the bowl
4. Transfer chocolate into a sealable bag, spread the chocolate out then seal the bag
5. Leave overnight or refrigerate for about 2 hours until completely firm



Making and assembling a cake

1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan Assisted/Gas Mark 4
2. Grease an 8”/20cm square baking tin with butter
3. Line the tin with parchment paper, creating a divide in the middle with the parchment (or foil)
- Tip: Watch video  for detailed instructions
4. OR Prepare Battenberg tin by brushing the tin with melted butter and flouring
5. Whisk together the dry ingredients then combine with the wet ingredients in a large bowl and beat together just until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth
6. Spoon half the mixture into the one side of the prepared baking tin
7. Add a few drops of red food liquid/gel/paste to the remaining batter, stir until the colour is thoroughly distributed, add more colour if needed
8. Spoon the pink batter into the other half of the prepared baking tin
9. Smooth the surface of the batter with a spatula, making sure batter is in each corner
10. Bake for 25-30mins until the cake is well risen, springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean (it should shrink away from the sides of the pan)
11. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out to cool thoroughly on a wire rack
12. Once completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated knife
13. Cut each coloured sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge
14. Neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible
15. Gently heat lemon curd
 16. Brush warmed curd onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern (one yellow next to one pink. On top of that, one pink next to one yellow)
17. Take  out chocolate plastique  from the bag and knead on a surface dusted with powdered sugar, at first it will just break , but as you knead, it will warm up and start to become pliable. Knead until it's pliable enough to roll out, 5 - 10mins.
Then roll the chocolate plastique in an oblong shape that is wide enough to cover the length of the cake and long enough to completely wrap the cake
18. Brush the top of the cake with apricot jam
19. Place the cake on the chocolate plastique, jam side down
- Tip: Either in the middle or to the one side of the chocolate plastique
20. Brush the remaining three sides with jam
21. Press the chocolate plastique  around the cake, making sure the join is either neatly in the one corner, or will be underneath the cake once turned over
22. Carefully flip the cake over so that the seam is under the cake and score the top of the cake with a knife, you can also crimp the top corners with your fingers to decorate
23. Neaten the ends of the cake and remove excess chocolate plastique by trimming off a small bit of cake on both ends to reveal the pattern

 I love Daring Bakers challenges. Every month I learn something new. :)


Battenberg torta



Izazov u ovomsecnom krugu Daring  bakers-a je battenberg torta.Inace ova torta je nastala u cast kraljevskog vencanja princeze Viktorije i princa Luisa od Batenberga 1884 godine. Ova tortica se jako dobro slaze sa soljom caja.  Mendi,nasa ovomesecna domacica je od nas zahtevala da torta bude tradicionalno oblika u bar dve boje. Sto se tice ukusa pustila nas je da se igramo. Ja sam kao lepak koristila lemon curd, pire od svezih malina umesto crvene boje i cokoladnu plastiku umesto marcipana.
Pa da krenemo na recept
Ako cete kao ja koristiti cokoladnu plastiku za pokrivanje predlazem vam da je napravite dan ranije.
potrebno je :
200 gr mlecne cokolade (neke kvalitetnije sa bar 50% cocoa)
3 supene kasike kukuruznog sirupa.
Cokoladu otopite na laganoj vatri, pustite da se malo ohladi i dodajte kukuruzni sirup. Mesajte dok masa ne pocne da se odvaja od zidova posude. Stavite u kesicu , zavezite je i pustite da prenoci. Ako hocete odmah da je koristite mora bar dva sata da bude u frizideru.
Tortica:
175 gr omeksalog i iseckanog na kockice putera
175 gr samodizuceg (self-rise) brasna (  napravicete ga kuci ako  164 gr brasna promesate sa 9 gr praska za pecivo i 2 gr soli)
175 gr secera
3 veca jajeta
65 gr mlevenih badema
3/4 kafene kasike praska za pecivo
1/2 kafene kasicice vanilinog ekstrata
1/4 kafene kasicice bademovog ekstrata
za bojenje crvenog dela testa obicno se koristi par kapi crvene prehrambene boje ali ja sam koristila 3 kasike pirea od malina ( maline sam propasirala kroz sitno sito)
100 gr  lemon curd-a
cokoladna plastika za pokrivanje 
Prosejte brasno, prasak za pecivo, so pa promesajte sa mlevenim bademima. Puter i secer dobro umutite pa dodajtemesavinu brasna, sjedinite pa dodajte preostale vlazne ( jaja,bademov i vanilin ekstrat) i sve dobro umutite. Smesu podelitte u dva dela. U jednu dodajte pire od malina.Kvadratni pleh od 20 cm oblozite peko papirom i pregradite komadom savijene al folije ili peko paira. Najbolje pogledajte ovaj video  .
Pecite u zagrejanoj rerni na 180C 25 do 30 minuta. Izvaditi iz rerne, pustiti da se ohladi i obe tortice poravnajte nozem da budu pravilnog oblika. Od svake tortice napravite dve trake. Svaku traku sa dve unutrasnje strane   premazite zagrejanim lemon curd-om i slozite da dobijete saru kao na slici.
Cokoladnu plastiku izvadite iz kese i mesite. U pocetku ce biti sipkava ali ce vremenom postati kao plastelin. Posle nekih 5 do 10 min. :) Na podlozi posutom prahk secerom pomocu oklagije razvucite plastiku dovoljno dugacko da mozete da obmotate torticu Oblikujte plastiku nozem u pravilan pravougaonik. Pocetak plastike premazite lemon curd-om i na to mesto stavite torticu. Premazite torticu i sa ostale tri strane (leve,desne i odozgo ) i polako uvijte u plastik. Isecite visak plastika koj prelazi preko prednje i zadnje strane tortice , skuvajte caj, isecite krisku ili dve i uzivajte. :)

  When I saw this month's Daring bakers Challenge I  was a little scared. Ruth challenged us to make  Challah, a special Jewish braided bread eaten on Sabbath and holidays.  I have never before  made a braided  bread . But I'm a daring baker and  I decided to give it a try.  I decided to make  a 6-strand braid challah, each strand filled with ground walnuts,sugar and cinnamon. Boy,  I'm so glad I did make this beautiful bread.  Rut was a great hostess and provided us with a few versions of  recipe and video how to braid 3,4,5,6 or round challah. Video was very useful. 
For the dough,  I used the easy challah recipe and I did add grated zest from one orange.

Easy Challah

(from templedavid.org)
Ingredients for 1 loaf
1 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) warm water
2 gr package rapid rise yeast
30 gr sugar
1/2  large eggs ( beat the egg and then add 2 tbsp of the egg to the recipe)
1/4 tsp  salt
grated zest  from half a orange
for wash:
2 tbsp beaten egg with 1/2 tsp. water
 For the filing
 60 gr groung walnuts ,
 2 tbsp superfine sugar
 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Directions:
1. Measure flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer) combine water and yeast, allow to sit 5 minutes until foamy.
3. Add  1/3  of the flour mixture to the water and yeast mixture, beat until well combined. Cover with a dish towel, let stand 30 min.
4. Add half of  egg to the dough, beat again.
5. By hand or with your dough hook knead in the remaining flour mixture. Knead approximately 10 minutes.
6. Transfer to oiled bowl, cover, let rise one hour.
7. Punch down dough, knead approximately 3 minutes.
8. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.  Take one piece (covering the other pieces with plastic wrap) and roll into a flat disk
9. Combine filling ingredients
10  Spoon  1 tablespoons of the filling down the length of the disk.
11. Cover filling with both sides of dough, pinching to seal and making sure none of the filling gets into your seal.  Gently roll and taper the ends  Cover and repeat with remaining five pieces of dough.  Once you have all 6 filled strands, pinch them together at the top and braid using this  video.  In a bowl or cup, beat 1/2 egg with 1/2 tsp water until uniform – for  egg wash
12 Place loaves on parchment covered or greased cookie sheets, cover with a towel, allow to rise one hour.
13. Preheat oven to 205°c.
14. Brush loaves with egg wash.
15. Bake at 205°c  for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 190°c, bake until golden crust forms (about 25-30 minutes).
16. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.


This was absolutely wonderful delicious  and fun challenge.  


Challah is sweet on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It goes well with butter and  jam. 






Domaćica ovomesečne igre Daring Bakers Rut  nam je zadala zadatak  da napravimo challah. Challah je tradicionalni jevrejski hleb koji se  jede praznicima. Oblik može da varira.Obično je u obliku pletenica od 3,4,5,6 traka  , mada ga ima i u okruglom obliku ali i dalje ima šare pletenice. Trake mogu biti punjene ili ih možete ostaviti prazne jer se trake sa punjem teže pletu. Po vrhu hleb možete posuti susamom, šećerom ili već po želji. Obzirom da nikada pre nisam pravila hleb sa pletenicama malo sam bila nervozna na šta će to sve da liči. Ali obzirom da sam Daring Baker i da volim da sebi zakomplikujem život više nego što moram odlučila sam i da trakice punim mešavinom mlevenih oraha, šećera i cimeta. Pravi daring zadatak. 
Sve u svemu, pošto nas je Rut snabdela i sa mnogo korisnim video upustvima nije bilo teško. Za prvi pokušaj , ja sm prezadovoljna. Jedino mi je žao što onoga dana kada sam fotografisala nije bilo dovoljno svetla, bio je oblačan dan , pa sam morala da se snalaziim. Sunce je granulo kada smo mi pojeli ceo kolač i ostalo je  samo ovih par kriškica koje poziraju uz sveže cedjenu narandžu. :) 
 Ovo je bio jako ukusan zadatak. Hleb je sladak i mek i super ide uz puter i džem od jagoda .:) 



Evo i recepta: 
( ovo su mere za 1/4 orginalnog recepta, ja sam količinu smanjila i dobila jednu veknicu) 
1 šolja (od 250 ml)  običnog brašna 
 60 ml vode ,tople
1 kafena kašičica suvog kvasva  
30 gr šećera 
1/2  jaje ( umutite ga viljuškom i odvojte 2 kašike mućenog jaja , tako ćete dobite 1/2 jaja , ovu drugu polovinu ćemo iskoristiti za premaz veknice) 
rendana korica od pola pomorandže
1/4 kafene kašičice soli 
za pramaz:
1/2 jaja  + 1/2 kafene kašičice vode 
za fil:
60 gr mlevenih oraha 
2 supene kašike šećera u prahu 
1/2 kafene kašičice mlevenog cimeta 


Priprema : 
U vanglici promešajte brašno, šečer i so. U drugoj posudi u kojoj ćete mutiti testo pomešajte kvasac i toplu vodu  i pustite 5 minuta . Nakon toga dodajte 1/3 mešavine brašna kvascu, promešajte da se dobro sjedini  i pustite da se diže pola sata. Nakon toga dodajte u smesu pola jajeta i opet dobro promešajte. Nakon toga dodajte i ostatak brašna i sve lepo sjedinite i mesite oko 10 minuta  da dobijete glatko testo.
Testo prebacite u nauljenu posudu, pokrijte i ostavite na toplom da se diže sat vremena. 
Nakon toga testo premsite ( oko 3 minuta) Prebacite ga na pobrašnjenu podlogu i podelite na 6 jufki. Promešajte orahe,cimet i šećer za fil. Svaku jufku razvite u dugačak pravougaonik, po sredini pažljivo rasporedite fil  tako da vam po 1 cm od svih ivica bude prazan i blago podignite ivice testa i spojite  ih prstima da se zalepe da fil ne bi ispadao prilikom pletenja.  Dok radite sa jednom trakom, ostalo nenafilovano testo treba da bude  pokriveno plastičnom folijom da se ne bi sušilo.
Kada napunite svih 6 traka spremni ste za pletenje. U tome će vam pomoći  ovaj video koji je za  nas snimila Rut. Gotov chalah stavite u pleh, obložen papriom za pečenje ,pokrite ga krpom i ostavite da se diže jedno sat vremena.
Umutite premaz od vode i preostale polovine jajete, pramažite challah i pecite ga u predhodno zagrejanoj rerni na 205 °C a onda smanjite temperaturu na 190°C i pecite 25-30 minuta dokle ne dobije lepu zlatnu koricu. 
Izvadite iz rerne , pustite da se ohladi i uživajte. :) 

Nazook

Yields 40 pieces
Ingredients
Pastry dough

• 3 cups (720 ml) (420 gm/15 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
• 2½ teaspoons (12½ ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) (1 packet) active dry yeast
• 1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) sour cream
• 1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) softened butter (room temperature)

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (210 gm) (7½ oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (340 gm/12 oz) sugar
• 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) softened butter (room temperature)
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Wash

• 1-2 egg yolks (for the wash; alternatively, some yogurt, egg whites, or a whole egg)

Directions:
Make the Pastry Dough
1. Place the sifted flour into a large bowl.
2. Add the dry yeast, and mix it in.
3. Add the sour cream, and the softened butter.
4. Use your hands, or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, to work it into a dough.
5. If using a standing mixer, switch to a dough hook. If making manually, continue to knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands. If it remains very sticky, add some flour, a little at a time.
6. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.
Make the filling
7. Mix the flour, sugar, and the softened butter in a medium bowl.
8. Add the vanilla extract.
9. Mix the filling until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Set aside.
Make the nazook
10. Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.
11. Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters.
12. Form one of the quarters into a ball. Dust your working surface with a little flour.
13. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be thin, but not
transparent.
15. From one of the long sides, start slowly rolling the dough across. Be careful to make sure the filling stays evenly distributed. Roll all the way across until you have a long, thin loaf.
17. Apply your egg yolk wash with a pastry brush.