British Food Memories

I was with my pals Ben and Bob last night and "all out of the blue" I remembered Battenberg (or Battenburg) cake.

It was one of my favourites when I was a child.  I think that I enjoyed the marzipan wrapping more than the cake itself.

The "cake authorities" are divided as to the origin of the name "Battenberg Cake" (they cannot even agree whether it should be Battenberg or Battenburg!).

Some think that the cake was made for the wedding of one or the other of the two children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who married into the (German) Battenberg family.

Others think that after the marriage of Vicky to Albert the British cake makers copied the German style of making cakes, and that Victoria Regina asserted that British makers of the marzipan encrusted  and other cakes were as good, if not better than German bakers.

Battenberg cake looks like this

(Damn, it's so good  -  at least  in memory).



Here is the recipe
 
 
My pal Ben expects me to make such a cake, but since I have never ever baked a cake of any kind I am not sure that this would be a good starting venture,''
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
My thoughts about BritFood led me to think about Marmalade.
 
Our Mum loved it, especially "Golden Shred" brand  - orange based
 
 









And "Silver Shred" brand  lemon based.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As a child I did not like either on account of what I called "the worms" in marmalade. (In truth they were slivered
bits of orange and lemon skin)
 
 
Later in life I began to enjoy ( now and then) the Lime marmalade  made by the "Roses" company.
 
 
 

But I am still not a frequent marmalade consumer.
 
That's unlike a clergy couple (Bert and Edna Air ) both now departed this life who I knew in Palmer MA.
 
I had dinner with them in their home way back in 1982 or 1983.  They had the strange habit of smearing marmalade over the hot and cooked meats on their plates (lamb, beef, pork or chicken). (This is true!)
 
At that dinner they enticed me to do the same, assuring me that that marmalade  would enhance the flavor of the meat. I did so, but was not convinced.
 


Location: Germany?

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