♥ A recipe for my friend C at Cake, Crumbs and Cooking ♥
When I was growing up, my mother didn’t bake cakes.
She was a fabulous cook but, being Chinese, she hadn’t grown up with baked goods as a household staple. So the cakes we ate were usually bought from the supermarket. My sister and I loved the little jam rolls, but mum’s favourite was the Madeira cake which she bought from either Woolworths or Coles. It was always rectangular, with a dense, squishy crumb.
I felt quite nostalgic when I spotted the Madeira cake recipe in Pam Corbin’s Cakes. Unfortunately, my first attempt at the recipe was quite disappointing – heavy and brick like, although rescued somewhat by the addition of a jam filling and lots of icing.
I rejigged the recipe – increased the total batter size, reduced the quantity of lemon zest, increased the proportion of baking powder, and switched the granulated sugar to caster sugar. I was pretty happy with the amended version!
This isn’t a soft, fluffy cake. It has a distinctly old-fashioned feel to it – it’s not overly sweet and its firm, close crumb definitely needs icing or jam (or both) to finish it off. I think it would make an ideal base for petit fours or jam sandwiches, or served simply for afternoon tea with a glass of Madeira, as was originally intended…
Madeira Cake
(adapted from a recipe in Pam Corbin’s Cakes)
- 250g plain (AP) flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 185g unsalted butter, softened
- 185g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- finely grated zest and juice of one lemon (about 40ml juice)
- 5 large free range eggs
- 200g icing sugar mixture (confectioner’s sugar)
- additional lemon juice (for icing)
1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F) with fan. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and sifted baking powder.
2. In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, lemon zest and caster sugar, stopping frequently to scrape down the bowl. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined after each addition. Add a little of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Using a folding action and a wooden spoon or spatula, gently stir in the remaining flour, followed by the lemon juice. Scrape the thick batter evenly into a greased and lined loaf tin measuring 22cm x 11cm (8½” x 4½”). I used the Tala tin liners I found last month.
4. Bake for approximately 50 minutes (start checking after 40 minutes) or until the top is well risen and brown, and a cake tester inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out cleanly. Allow to rest for ten minutes in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Icing: Sift the icing sugar mixture (you really do have to sift this time, or you’ll end up with lumpy icing) into a large bowl and gradually whisk in the additional lemon juice until it forms a thick paste. Spread over the cooled cake and allow to set before serving.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
. . . . .
This sturdy cake would be an ideal lunch box treat or after school snack…
It was also a wonderful base for our raspberry and peach trifle!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Pass the Madeira m’dear hee hee….
Indeed.. :) xx
I happen to like a nice dense cake like that. I tend to put marinated fresh fruit on top.
Karen, that’s a wonderful idea! It would be lovely with fresh berries or figs..
Sounds like a perfect trifle cake! Nice to learn more about you :)
Tandy, thank you! I think it would be a nice “cut into shapes and ice for a kid’s birthday party” cake as well! :)
You’re such a sweetie! I compared the two recipes and couldn’t really see that much difference in terms of sweetness, but Pam’s recipe had a much higher proportion of egg than Nigellas. I guess that suit you though with your ladies! Your version of madeira cake looks fabulous :-) That trifle looks delicious too – you’ve made me crave custard (it doesn’t take much, I often want to eat custard!)
C, I’m surprised how little sugar is in the actual cake – it really isn’t overly sweet. And I was surprised that it didn’t taste eggy – I thought it might with so many eggs. We make custard all the time – one of the joys of having chooks.. :)
My mother’s cake repertoire consisted of madeira and versions thereof, she would lob in some mixed fruit and try and tell us it was fruit cake. My Dad also used to always say “have some madeira m’dear” he thought he was very witty! :)
Sue, I wonder if your dad’s humour was based around this naughty old videoclip? :)
Every time you mention your Chinese mother, I sigh, thinking about my studies of Chinese, abandoned due to the many other commitments and struggles of life…
I feel nostalgic about Chinese, I miss my ideograms… and only a slice of this gorgeous cake would soothe my soul… ;-)
Sally love, life and a human brain can only fit in so much information. For everything else, there’s Wiki and Google.. :D
One of the classic, delicious cakes. This look great. I always love the colour of the centre of Madeira cake – it’s so tempting.
Nick, it really is an English classic, isn’t it? I loved the oldfashionedness of it!
I love when some foods transport you to your childhood and I can see why this cake would…..
Norma, thanks for understanding, it’s nice to revisit a taste memory!
Look at that colour. It’s a perfect cake.
And I’ve never met anyone yet who doesn’t like trifle, Celia.
Gill, thank you, and I was surprised the first time I made trifle how popular it was – it was on the dessert table, and pretty messy going, but everyone – adults and kids alike – were going back for bowl after bowl of it! :)
That looks so delicious, Celia and you have reminded me of how my mother always brought home little packages of Madeira cake from the National Library cafeteria, when she worked at the Library. We used to love it! Great post, as always.
Thanks Lizzy! Your mum’s cakes sound a bit more upmarket than the ones we used to get! :)
That’s my mum too. She used to buy the Sara Lee frozen madeira cake. It was pretty much the cake we ate growing up. My mother baked from a packet and I used to think that was the way it was done!!
Lien, I wonder if it was a product of the times – I remember Pete’s mum once telling me that she was so happy when packet mixes came out, as it made her life so much easier! We really have come full circle.. :)
your madeira cake and custard are so golden from your eggs that i have ‘home laid’ envy..and they both look pretty delectable too.. :)
Jane, thanks for noticing – it’s one of the things that gives me great baking joy – everything is so yellow from the egg yolks!
I like nice dense cakes like this! One needs a solid chunk of cake to soak up all the madeira one sips in the afternoon :) Your trifle looks lovely too, I haven’t had one for years :(
Becca, I reckon you could make one – lf milk, gf cake, and you’d be off! :)
oh, I certainly need no encouragement to bake a good cake…. Now, where did I put my maderia?
Becca, it keeps really well too – it was fine for days in the cake holder!
I have a nostalgic yen for Madeira cake too as my mother used to buy one, not from the supermarket as they did not make them in those days (I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s) but from a cake shop. I have made but one in my life and once again thanks for the memories.
Roz, I’m so glad I could remind you of happy memories! I didn’t realise we’d all be so nostalgic about Madeira cake! :)
Just hearing the name I can taste the cake. I don’t really know why I know it so well. I don’t remember eating it very much!
Yours looks lovely Celia. I love the bright yellow.
Thanks Claire! Our girls are laying the yellowest yolks at the moment, and it’s colouring all of my baking! :)
When we were at Teachers College our class clown, Terry, always brought this for morning tea (made by his Irish Mam). He referred to it as “Madrina” cake and, to this day, that’s what we call it.
You know, Rose, I should really remember that for my sons. I wonder how Big Boy would feel if I sent along cake to his uni barbeques? :D
I wanted that cake before I even saw it iced. Now I have to have it!
Thanks Greg! It would be even better with a jam filling, I think! :)
It’s hard to go past a really good plain cake, isn’t it. This looks very desirable indeed & my first thoughts of it wandered towards trifle, too!
A, I really liked how simple the recipe was. There really wasn’t any fluffing about involved. I’d quite like to try it cut into cubes and made into fancy iced and piped petit fours..
I too like a dense textured cake. Love the color, that trifle is making me hungry and I just had dinner, ah, but I did not have dessert.
Norma, I made the trifle at the last minute – we had some microwave custard leftover in the fridge (we always make our custard in the microwave these days!), half a tin of peaches, some frozen raspberries and cake. I was a bit concerned about the lack of red jelly, but Pete assured me he didn’t mind! :)
Yes, madeira cake does bring back some memories. It seemed to be everywhere when I was growing up. It was always good in a school lunch box because it was so sturdy and sometimes my mother would put lemon rind in the cake mix then serve it with lemon icing and that was always delicious. Your cake looks beautiful and very nostalgic!
Charlie, I’m glad it brought back such nice memories for you. I don’t think I ever got to take any to school. I think mum used to toast hers and put butter and jam on it!
Lovely Celia…the cake is a beautiful colour, yum!
Thanks Jane! It was fun to make! :)
That looks golden and lovely :) Hehe I remember madeira cakes and in our household, Sara Lee cakes were a staple. Especially the sultana pound cake. I still love it to this day :P
Oooh Lorraine, now there’s a blast from the past, I’d forgotten about the sultana cake! :)
I did something I haven’t done for ages – read a recipe on your blog and go off and make it. I am enjoying eating my madiera cake with a cup of tea right now! (I put a slug of madiera in my cake mix because I always thought it was supposed to have some in the cake as well…which I am sure is wrong.)
SG, I always thought the same, but google tells me otherwise. I’m glad you put a bit of madeira in it though – I’m sure it improved the recipe no end. Hmmm. I actually have some port lying around, maybe I should try adding some of that next time..
Thanks for making the recipe!
Oooh, I love Maderia with a nice cup of tea… but could also go the trifle too. It’s too hard to choose! Both? :)
Christie, that’s what we ended up doing! Half has been sliced up and eaten, and the rest went into the trifle! :)
Oh my gosh, that looks delish! Reminds me of the pound cake we used to get at the ice cream parlor.
I’d love a chocolate cake recipe like the lunch ladies made at school. It was oily moist and had a glossy white layer of frosting. They served big squares of it on small paper plates.
Maz
Maz, I hope you track that recipe down! Given it was cut into squares, I wonder if it was a sheet cake recipe?
I am not commenting on your madiera cake though it looks scrumptious. Just want to say that I think you must be one of the loveliest people on this planet. Reading about you and reading your reply to posts fills me with gladness.
Vic
Vicki, that’s very kind of you! I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog.. :)
Beeeeyooooooootiful cake!
Thanks love.. :)
Oh my Mum loved lamingtons with cream centres. I do love a Madiera cake. Thanks for the great recipe
Remember all the lammies from the school drives, Tania? We loved those.. :)
You got me at the trifle Celia. Hand me a spoon….
Hehehe…anything with custard, right Sally? ;-)
Right!
Ah, a breakfast cake :) I like Madeira cake so thanks for the recipe, I’d skip the icing as I like it’s dryness! And the 1st photo is superb!
Claire, thank you, and that’s how my mum used to have it – toasted with butter and jam for breakfast! :)
What a lovely yellow cake!! I’ve never made trifle before, but now that I have a microwave again, I need to try your custard. Fresh local fruit will be here before you know it. Its warming up here:) I love a slice of nice thick dense filling cake. I’d rather be full w/ something substantial than fluffy & sweet.
Mel, I wondered if it might be a good base for something like a strawberry shortcake? The microwave custard is very easy! :)
Dear Celia,
Your madeira cake looks awesome and you will be disappointed to know I only tasted one for the very first time last year and it was delicious. Until then, I didn’t know what it was.
Chopinand, I hope you had it with a glass of old Madeira? :)
That trifle makes my heart sing.
And my mouth water.
The cake looks yummy, too!
Heidi, that’s nice. I like that trifle makes you happy.. :)
Oooo…straight back to my Granny’s kitchen!
Yes – something very nostalgic about madeira cake – and trifle! I used to make trifle with port wine jelly to be precise!
5 eggs seems a lot – would like a slice now please as I sip my morning coffee!
Anna
This cake reminds me of one my mother-in-law makes and she also does a trifle for special occasions. I’m thinking there’s a similarity just looking at the ingredients and reading the history of this cake. How talented you are to take a recipe and rejig it so that it turns out better!!
This is a perfect example of Madeira cake – bookmarked!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Nothing like a sturfy cake for lunch. I’ve taken too many delicate cakes wrapped in plastic to work and have only enjoyed crumbs…which also tasted nice:)
Oh no. Don’t say Pam the Jam has let you down? I haven’t made Maderia cake for years, but it is meant to be quite a heavy dense buttery cake I think. It looks like a beautiful crumb Celia. the only time I ever had bought cakes was if I went around to someone else’s house and I thought they were wonderful – so sweet and light.
No, no! I think I tried to bake Pam’s recipe in too large a tin so it wasn’t as tender as it might have been. I do think the little extra baking powder made a difference though! :)
My baking is not that good,but the madeira cake is a must try for me,it looks simple,thanx for the recipe
I hope you enjoy it – it’s quite simple to make!