Classic St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake vs Battenberg Cake

Both cakes lean on butter, eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla, yet they take these staples in opposite directions. The gooey butter cake pours melted butter into a dense pressed base and a cream cheese topping sweetened with four cups of powdered sugar, baked until set but still gooey for a rich, tangy-sweet bite. Battenberg creams butter with caster sugar into a light, springy vanilla sponge, joins pink and plain strips with sieved apricot jam into a checkerboard, and wraps it in marzipan. There, powdered sugar merely dusts the work surface.