Madeira loaf cake

Madeira loaf cake

By Barney Desmazery
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(78 ratings)
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Prep: 20 mins Cook: 1 hr

Easy

Cuts into 8 slices

A classic English sponge cake, delicately flavoured with lemon and almond - perfect for afternoon tea

Nutrition and extra info

  • Freezable

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal397
  • fat23.6g
  • saturates12.3g
  • carbs39.5g
  • sugars22.6g
  • fibre1.4g
  • protein6.3g
  • salt0.6g
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Ingredients

  • 175g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
    Butter

    Butter

    butt-err

    Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

  • 175g golden caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs
    Eggs

    Egg

    egg

    The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition, packed with protein and a…

  • grated zest 1 lemon
    Lemon

    Lemon

    le-mon

    Oval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits…

  • few drops vanilla extract
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 50g ground almond

Method

  1. 1 Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Butter and line the base of a 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Using an electric whisk, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the lemon zest and vanilla. Now beat in the flour and almonds until you have a thick batter. The batter should be loose enough that it falls off a wooden spoon, if it’s too thick mix in a splash of milk.

  2. Tip the batter into the tin and smooth over the top. Bake for 55 mins – 1hr until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven then leave to cool for 15 mins then remove from the tin, peel away the paper and leave on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. The loaf will keep in an airtight container for three days.

  • Recipe Tip

    Change tin

    The same mix can be used to make a 17cm round cake, you just need to adjust the cooking time to 45-50 mins. It will cut into 6 – 8 slices.

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Comments, questions and tips

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abikinsey
3rd Jan, 2013
5.05
Never Made Madeira Cake, needed a good excuse to make one, this was simple (I did use my food processor) and found it moist, subtle flavour & texture, perfect... Agreed, looks just like the picture, happy faces :-)
ginny13
8th Dec, 2012
Excellent recipe very light all the family enjoyed it
chefjulielee
3rd Dec, 2012
5.05
Never made madeira cake and decided to make it on mother's request. It was really gorgeous and was so moreish! it was gone in half day. Came out fluffy and came out just like the picture. yum!
jazziholt
23rd Nov, 2012
5.05
So easy to make. I change the lemon zest for orange zest and was delightful with a cup of afternoon tea.
minners1
5th Nov, 2012
I also had to add some milk. Mine's just come out the oven, looking good so far, and if the bowl licking is anything to go by I can't wait :)
raayan
16th Sep, 2012
5.05
Nice fluffy cake ..... wonderful recipe .... easy to cook ..... thk u v much
toritaylor76
22nd Jul, 2012
5.05
Made this cake yesterday - really delighted with the result, going to make another today as my family demolished it in seconds! We all agreed that whilst lovely and subtle - the lemon flavor could be ramped up a bit so planning to add a little fresh squeezed lemon juice as well as the rind of the lemon to the cake mixture this next time. Still - it was delicious, very pleased indeed :-)
bekkah42
2nd Jul, 2012
5.05
Just waiting for my cake to cool down. I was really impressed by the result. I needed to add a splash of milk to mine as I thought it was a little too thick. I also cooked mine in a 7" square cake tin and it cooked nicely. It needed an extra 15 mins to what was stated for the round cake suggestion. I will definitely be amking this again. Especially if it tastes as good as it looks! :)
magicmushroom
24th Jun, 2012
5.05
Wow - I just took this out the over about an hour ago and my husband has demolished half of it already! I made it into a lemon drizzle cake by mixing lemon juice and icing sugar, pricking some holes in the cake with a fork and then pouring the lemon icing over. It's divine. The cake is moist and tastes beautiful. I used the zest of 2 small lemons, I might add a little more next time as it's quite subtle. This is a fantastic recipe and so easy to make. YUM!!
lisajo29
21st Mar, 2012
3.05
I found this cake had nice flavours especially from the ground almonds, however it seemed a little dry. I've checked a few other recipes and these have sunflower oil in them, which presumably makes it more moist. Not one I will be making again.

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