Checkerboard Cake Covered with Marzipan

This chocolate-and-vanilla version of a very British cake bears the original German name of the family now known in Britain as Mountbatten. The cake batter is divided in half, and cocoa is added to one portion of it. (Some versions just use food coloring in half the batter.) After baking, the two cakes are cut into even bars and stacked up checkerboard-style. A covering of marzipan finishes off the cake. Thanks to my friend Kyra Effren for sharing her expert knowledge of Br