Hubby once told me that one of his favorite cakes as a child was Madeira cake. He had fond memories of visiting his grandmother at the weekend as she would bake Madeira cake for her visitors afternoon tea. Since I had some free time this week, I decided to bake a Madeira cake for him. As he took his first bite, I watched for his reaction - and I was glad that he enjoyed it. He commented that it was "just as good as my grandmother's". :)
For me, Madeira cake is a cross between a sponge cake and a butter cake. It has a firm and dense texture, but at the same time buttery and light. The exterior crust has a nice caramelised finish. Madeira Cake is often mistaken as originating from Madeira Islands in Portugal, but it is in fact British. It was named after the Madeira wine, which was popular at England at that time and was traditionally served with the dish. These days, it is more common to serve Madeira cake with tea.
Madeira Cake
Preparation time: 20 - 25 mins
Cooking time: 1 - 1 1/4 hour
Serves 12
Ingredients
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
225g butter or margarine, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a 9 x 5 inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf tin.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, cream the butter or margarine, adding the sugar 2 tbsp at a time, until light and fluffy. Stir in the lemon rind and vanilla essence.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.
5. Add the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spatula until just combined.
6. Pour cake mixture into the tin and tap lightly. Bake until a metal skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours (Ours was ready in 1 hour, so do check doneness with a skewer).
7. Let cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmould the cake from the tin onto the wire rack and let cool completely.
My first attempt was a success! :)
Golden brown
Beautiful purple orchid from our garden
Baby D testing out the cake texture... PASS!!!
Full set of photos available to view here.
How nice if I can hv a pc of the madeira cake for my tea now :P
ReplyDeletewow, i can almost SMELL the oven-fresh aroma of the cake! :D i'm not very familiar with this specific cake, though i think i've had it before. but yeah, when i saw the title, i was expecting an alcoholic cake, heheh :D
ReplyDeletey_ctong: It's an easy enough cake to make. Will bake one again soon. :)
ReplyDeleteSean: Lol thanks. Its a very simple cake, but surprisingly everyone in the family loved it (some loved it more than some of fancy cakes we got from bakeries). I guess I rarely make alcoholic cakes so that my children can enjoy them with us.
ReplyDeletei was expecting madeira in the cake until i saw the recipe. i wonder how will it taste like with madeira in it... my sister often use alcohol to make her cake lighter...
ReplyDeleteSimplicity always surprises!
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome...can almost imagine tasting it! :D
thanks for sharing the recipe.
ReplyDeletebaby D is super cute!!! wanna cubit D!!!
Very lovely indeed! Your hubby is lucky to have such a good wife, hehe :)
ReplyDeleteNice crumb you have there.. and I think we have the same oven.
ReplyDeleteBosch right?
Thanks Wendy! Hope you and your family are doing well.
DeleteYes it's a Bosch oven :)
Mine will be replaced soon, cos some enamel came off. They are sending a replacement.
DeleteI have made a Lemon Madeira and a plain Madeira cake for several years now, it's a favourite in my household. Trouble is it never lasts long, once cut it's gone.
ReplyDelete