Pudding ... Battenburg cakes ... a fool? (7)
I believe the answer is:
dingbat
'a fool?' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'pudding battenburg cakes' is the wordplay.
'cakes' indicates a hidden word (cake can mean to cover or coat).
'DINGBAT' is hidden in the letters of 'pudding battenburg'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dingbat that I've seen before include "Silly billy - it'd bang (anag)" , "funny-looking character" , "Thingummy - bind tag (anag)" , "Eccentric person" , "Aussie fool" .)