Which British cake has a checkerboard centre and is covered in marzipan?

Battenberg cake is a British cake with a checkerboard centre covered in marzipan.

The classic cake is made from four alternating pink and yellow sponge sections, joined with jam and wrapped in a sheet of marzipan. When sliced, the pieces create the distinctive two-colour checkerboard pattern.

The name is associated with the Battenberg family, and the cake is widely linked with the 1884 marriage of Princess Victoria, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Louis of Battenberg. The exact origin story is not fully settled, but the name and royal association helped establish its identity.

Battenberg is sometimes mistaken for an ordinary sponge cake decorated with marzipan. Its defining feature is the assembled geometric interior: the marzipan coating alone does not make a cake a Battenberg.