Preheat the oven to 160c. Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds until soft. Once softened, add to a large mixing bowl with the sugar. Whisk to a cream with an electric whisk for 2-3 mins.

Add the almonds, eggs, baking powder, xanthan gum, vanilla essence and almond essence. Whisk with the electric whisk for 30 seconds to combine.

Sift in the flour. Fold in with a metal spoon until a smooth mixture has formed.

Split the mixture equally into two bowls. Add 3 small drops of colouring gel to each bowl and stir. Add more if you want darker colours. Gel works better than liquid colouring as it doesn’t affect the consistency of the cake mix.

If you don’t have a battenburg tin loaf tins work well, or use a square tin divided into two.

Once fully cooled, use a sharp knife to slice the cake in half long ways.

Microwave the apricot jam for 30 seconds until runny. Dust a large chopping board or worktop with icing sugar and use a rolling pin to roll out the marzipan so it it big enough to cover all 4 sides of the cake. Use a teaspoon to coat in a layer of jam.

Carefully lift the cake slices into the centre of marzipan. Use the remaining jam as a glue to hold the segments together.

Fold the marzipan over the cake. Flip the cake over so the join is at the bottom. Use a sharp knife to cut either end to make them neat. Serve and enjoy!