THE BATTENBURG CAKE

The battenburg cake 
The pretty chef in the video moved her hands so deftly . Not a drop of sweat  trickled down her neatly trimmed  brows   . Her designer dress had no crease .Her hair was  neatly tied up in a loose ponytail . Not a lock of  hair  was out of  place . The lips remained glossy even after talking nineteenth to the dozen. The pots and pans in the kitchen were neatly arranged . The  spic and span modular kitchen seemed to be the coolest place for her in the whole world .  It was a tutorial on battenburg cake or chessboard cake as she  said . I didn't know whether to look at her and enjoy her facial expressions  andoand story about the origin of the cake  or to concentrate on the method to make the cake .

 Rolling her eyes and clicking her fingers she explained the procedure  of mixing, baking and  assembling the cake in detail. I was awed by her voice modulation and facial expressions which changed like a chameleon .  The  agility with which she whipped up the ingredients and made the batter was awesome . I had a tough time keeping my focus on the tutorial . I had to rewind again and again to check out on the missing steps . It was too testing . 
    Now coming to the recipe, I had wanted to bake this cake for a long time since I saw a picture of it along with the method I don't remember where. The two flavoured cake incorporated into one into a chessboard design intrigue me . Being fond of baking , I had to try it . 
           Eager to impress my family,I embarked upon the cake making mission with a vengeance. As I didn't have all the  ingredients required for the recipe  as in the video, it being the lockdown time , I decided to give my own tweaks and twists to it . 
          The vanilla and the chocolate cakes were made  and trimmed. " My gosh! What do I do with all these cut cake ?" 
The video hostess had not  said  anything about that . "May be  she has no issues with food wastage ."
The cakes were cut and joined with jam  as in the video . Then it was frosted and decorated .  Like a diligent  student  I followed my teacher . 
       At last after a long tiring tryast with ingredients, pots and pans, my Battenburg cake '  was finally made . Now. It was time for it to be decorated, decorated  sliced and served . 
The mystery of the yellow and brown  checker board design unfolded .I looked at with unbelieving eyes.i had cracked it in my first attempt.
     "Wow ! They look so perfect " . I gave a pat on own back for  my efforts  proudly  , though of course  I  knew    it was a far cry from the original one . My husband too admired my creativity . 
   I really appreciate the hostess for looking so fresh at the end of the video, by the time I finished making my cake  , I just wanted to rush to have a cool shower .