Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Grease a 20cm square baking tin.

Cut a rectangle of parchment-lined foil which is 20cm wide and twice as long as the tin. Set it paper-side-up and fold in half along the long length, open it, then push the fold upwards to make a pleat. Crease firmly and then press the paper into the tin with the centre pleat running down the centre, creating two sections approx 20cm x 10cm. Any excess foil can be folded over the sides of the tin - if it’s long enough, tuck it underneath the tin when baking so it doesn’t flail about in the oven!

Add the sugar and butter to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and creamy.

Add the eggs and almond extract and beat again until it forms a runny mixture.

In a separate bowl mix the gluten free flour (see notes if using self-raising GF flour), baking powder, almonds and xanthan gum. Add the flour mixture into the cake mix and beat again until combined.

Separate the mixture evenly between two bowls and add a few drops of pin food colouring to one. Mix together well until it is no longer streaky - go as subtle or vibrant as you like with the colours, I find it best to add a little at a time until you’re happy.

If using, repeat the process in the second bowl with the yellow food colouring. I only used a tiny bit so it wasn’t too vibrant.

Pour the pink coloured batter into one half of the tin and smooth down. Pour the yellow batter into the second half and smooth down. Bake the cake for approx 25-30 minutes until risen and a skewer in the middle comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10-15 minutes. Use a butter knife to run along the sides of the cake (to separate it from the tin) then leave in the tin until cool. Once cool, gently remove the cake from the tin.

Set the sponges on a chopping board and cut each sponge in half long-ways to create four strips of cake - two pink and two yellow. Trim any edges where the cakes may have risen unevenly so you have four neat and even rectangles of cake.

Dust a clean worktop with icing sugar and knead the marzipan until workable, then roll out into a rectangle approx 20cm x 30cm.

Warm the apricot jam slightly (approx 10-15 seconds in a microwave). Brush the bottom of one strip of the pink sponge with some jam and then lay it neatly along the short edge of the marzipan. Brush the bottom and side of one of the yellow pieces of sponge with jam lay it next to the pink sponge strip so that the jam-side sticks the two together.

Brush the tops of the two pieces with jam and repeat the process with alternative colours, so the second yellow strip is on top of the first pink strip, and vice versa. Brush jam on the sides were the two top pieces of sponge join too. You should have a chequerboard effect on the ends.

Brush the three exposed sides of the whole cake with jam and carefully wrap the marzipan neatly over the top of the cake, smoothing out any bumps as you go, and then join it at the seal - which should be along the bottom edge. Trim any excess marzipan off.

Trim the exposed short ends of the cake so you have a neat finish and then serve.