Image is for illustrative purposes only.
Madeira cake is an old-fashioned butter sponge with a close, tender crumb and a clean vanilla flavour. This version is built like a genoise: the whole eggs and sugar are whipped warm and then cold until thick and pale, the flours are folded through, and hot melted butter goes in last. The result is lighter than a pound cake but still rich enough to eat on its own with a cup of tea.
Because the crumb is fine and firm, it cuts and layers beautifully, so it is a good base for tiered and carved work as well as for simple slices. It takes syrup, jam and buttercream well, and it keeps its shape under fondant without becoming heavy.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 1407
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: 20 cm round tin, about 7 cm high
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WEIGHT
(grams)
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ALTERNATIVE METRIC
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INGREDIENT
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IMAGE
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CONDITION
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A
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500 |
10 Whole Eggs
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Whole Egg
Eggs are one of the most common ingredients in a typical cake. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in baking. Usually an eggs role in a cake is to add moisture and richness, act as a raising agent as well as a glue to bind the ingredients together.
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room temperature |
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B
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300 |
10.6 ounces
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Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
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C
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1.5 |
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Salt
Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
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D
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5 |
1 teaspoon
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Vanilla Essence
Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
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E
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200 |
7 ounces
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Cake Flour
Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product.
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sifted |
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F
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100 |
3.5 ounces
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Self-Raising Flour
Self-rising or self-raising flour is white flour that is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents. Self-rising flour is typically composed of the following ratio: 1 cup (100 g) flour, 1 1⁄2 teaspoons (3 g) baking powder, a pinch to 1⁄2 teaspoon (1 g or less) salt.
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sifted |
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G
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300 |
10.6 ounces
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Butter
Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted
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melted and hot |
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1406
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Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
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STEP
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ACTION
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DETAIL
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CONDITION
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1 |
Pre-heat |
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (430°F). Grease a deep 20 cm round tin and line the base and sides with baking paper standing a little above the rim. |
Oven fully up to temperature before the batter is mixed |
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2 |
Melt |
Melt G (butter) in a small saucepan and keep it hot on the side of the stove. |
Clear and hot, but not browned or sizzling |
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3 |
Whip |
Put A, B, C and D (whole egg, caster sugar, salt and vanilla essence) in a mixing bowl and set it over a pan of hot water, whisking until the mixture is warm to the touch, about 40°C (105°F). |
Sugar dissolved and the mixture warm, not hot |
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4 |
Whip |
Take the bowl off the heat and whip on high speed until the mixture is cold, thick and pale. |
Trebled in volume; a ribbon of batter sits on the surface for a few seconds |
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5 |
Fold |
Sift E and F (cake flour and self-raising flour) together over the whipped egg and fold through gently with a spatula or large spoon. |
No dry flour left, and as little volume lost as possible |
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6 |
Fold |
Pour the hot G (butter) down the side of the bowl in a steady stream and fold it in quickly. |
Butter fully through the batter with no heavy pool at the bottom of the bowl |
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7 |
Fill |
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the top. |
Tin no more than two thirds full |
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8 |
Bake |
Bake at 220°C (430°F) for 8 to 10 minutes, then drop the oven to 160°C (320°F) and bake for a further 40 minutes. If the top has set and is doming, score it once down the middle with a wet knife so it opens evenly. |
Well risen and golden, springing back when pressed; a skewer in the centre comes out clean |
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9 |
Cool |
Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. |
Cool completely before cutting; it slices best the next day |
Important Notes
This quantity makes about 1,400 g of batter, enough for one deep 20 cm round tin, or two 22 x 11 cm loaf tins if you prefer smaller cakes (reduce the second stage of baking to about 30 minutes for loaves). Wrapped well, the cake keeps 3 to 4 days at room temperature and freezes for up to a month. If you are layering or carving it, chill the cooled cake first — the fine crumb cuts far more cleanly when cold.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with whisk attachment, a heatproof mixing bowl and a saucepan for the water bath, small saucepan for melting butter, sieve, large spatula, deep 20 cm round tin, baking paper, skewer, cooling rack.
