Image is for illustrative purposes only.
Madeira cake is a firm, buttery cake with a close, even crumb and a gentle lemon and vanilla flavour. It is creamed in the traditional way — butter and sugar beaten pale, eggs added slowly, then self-raising flour and a little milk folded through by hand — which gives it enough body to be cut, layered and carved without crumbling.
This is the kind of cake that holds up under fondant and tiers. It bakes flat and dense, slices cleanly, keeps well for several days wrapped, and takes a soaking syrup or a buttercream filling happily. If you need a plain, reliable cake for a covered or stacked wedding cake, this is it.
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.
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Weight Per Unit: 1562
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: 20 cm round tin, about 7 cm deep
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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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375 |
13.2 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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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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375 |
7.5 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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D
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75 |
2.5 fluid_ounces
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Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Milk is processed into a variety of dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, and cheese. Modern industrial processes use milk to produce casein, whey protein, lactose, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other food-additives and industrial products.
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room temperature |
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E
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425 |
15 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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F
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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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G
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6.5 |
0.2 ounce
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Lemon Zest
Lemon zest is the thin, brightly coloured outer layer of the lemon skin, removed with a fine grater or zester without taking the bitter white pith underneath. It holds the fruit's aromatic oils and gives a fresh citrus lift to batters and creams.
fresh
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finely grated |
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1561
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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
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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 180°C (355°F). Grease a 20 cm round tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. |
Paper standing a little above the rim so the cake can rise |
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2 |
Beat |
Beat A and B (butter and caster sugar) together until pale and light. |
Creamy, pale and noticeably lighter in volume |
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3 |
Add |
Add C (whole egg) a little at a time, beating well between each addition. |
Smooth and glossy, not curdled or split |
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4 |
Flavour |
Mix in F and G (vanilla essence and lemon zest). |
Evenly distributed through the batter |
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5 |
Fold |
Sift E (self-raising flour) over the batter and fold it through by hand. |
Just combined, no dry flour showing |
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6 |
Fold |
Fold D (milk) through by hand. |
Smooth, soft dropping consistency |
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7 |
Fill |
Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface, hollowing the centre very slightly. |
Even thickness right to the edges |
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8 |
Bake |
Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 1 hour. |
Golden, springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean |
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9 |
Cool |
Rest the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and peel away the paper. |
Completely cool before cutting or covering |
Important Notes
This quantity makes about 1,560 g of batter, enough for one deep 20 cm round tin. Bake for 1 hour at 180°C (355°F) as written; if the top colours too quickly before the centre is set, lay a sheet of baking paper loosely over it for the last part of the bake. Because it is firm and close-grained, Madeira cake cuts and carves cleanly and is well suited to layering and covering with fondant. Once cool, wrap it well in plastic; it keeps for several days at room temperature and freezes well.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with paddle, mixing bowls, sieve, rubber spatula, fine grater or zester, digital scales, 20 cm round cake tin, baking paper, skewer, cooling rack.
