Classic Madeira Cake

Name: Classic Madeira Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (225g, room temperature); 1 cup caster sugar (225g, super fine sugar - not powdered); 3 large eggs (room temperature); 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (300g); 2 1/2 tsp baking powder; zest and juice of 1 1/2 lemons; 2 cups granulated sugar; 1 cup water; 2 lemons (sliced 1/8" thick)

By Olivia, 59 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for details.

Jump to Recipe

Lightly flavoured with lemon and topped with candied lemon slices, this classic English Madeira Cake is the easiest dessert you will ever make.

I have a new obsession: The Great British Bake Off.

I know I’m late to the party here… later than I thought actually. I assumed the most recent season was Season 3, but apparently what I’m watching is season 6! Where have I been for 6 years?! So much to catch up on!!

Ugh, I hope I can find the older seasons somewhere. I actually caught the last episode of season 4 (what I thought was season 2) a couple months ago and have been hooked ever since.

Kicking myself for missing out on all of those seasons.

I know Season 6 is technically over, but it just started a few weeks ago here in Canada and I’ve been happily engrossed in it ever since.

There’s something about British TV shows that’s just better than ones in the US and Canada. They have a certain feel to them and a higher quality (in my opinion). The Great British Bake Off is no exception….the US version totally tanked and I, myself, couldn’t even get through one episode. SO BAD.

I think the appeal of the British version is that the contestants are really relatable. They are not professionals, by any means, and there’s just a genuine quality about them. Plus the hosts and judges are the BEST. Sue Perkins is my fave. Hilarious!

I’m also loving the fact that in watching this show I’m being exposed to baked goods I’ve never even heard of — like this classic Madeira Cake.

According to Mary Berry, a Madeira Cake is a close textured plain cake that is signified by a dome and a crack on the top. Traditionally it is lemon in flavour and has some sort of candied lemon garnish.

I didn’t stray away from the traditional version as I wanted to try it in it’s classic form. After all, Mary did say that you can’t beat the classic. It is really simple to make. In fact, I think it might be the easiest cake I’ve ever made.

Naturally, this was attempt #2 at this cake — #1 was an epic fail. Since all of the traditional recipes are British, I had a bit of hard time figuring out ratios and amounts from grams to cups, but mostly converting from self-raising flour to all-purpose.

Unfortunately my first cake, as delicious as it was, completely sank in the middle due to too much baking powder. My sources steered me wrong!

The info I found was to add 2 tsps of baking powder per cup of all-purpose flour to make self raising flour. This seemed like a lot (based on my experience), but against my better judgement, I went with 4 tsps per my 2 1/2 cups in the recipe, but it was still way too much.

Further research said to use 1 tsp of baking powder per cup so I tried that the second time and it worked perfectly.

My Madeira Cake didn’t dome quite as much as I had hoped, there’s just a slight hump in there, but I’m happy with it. It did crack though! Pretty perfectly if I do say so myself.

This Madeira Cake is perfect for afternoon tea. Or breakfast, I don’t judge.

It’s simple, but delicious and really, is there anything better than that? I recommend microwaving pieces for about 20 seconds before eating for that fresh out of the oven taste. I’ll be making this one again for sure!

Looking for more Lemon recipes?

Overhead shot of the cake with lemon slices around the top.

Print Pin Rate

4.38 from 8 votes

Classic Madeira Cake

This classic English Madeira Cake is the easiest dessert you will ever make. Lightly flavoured with lemon and topped with candied lemon slices.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 10 servings

Calories 537kcal

Author Olivia

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup unsalted butter 225g, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar 225g, super fine sugar - not powdered
3 large eggs room temperature
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 300g
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
zest and juice of 1 1/2 lemons

Candied Lemon Slices:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 lemons sliced 1/8" thick

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325F (170C). Grease and flour a deep* 8" round cake pan, line with parchment.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins). Add eggs one at a time along with one tablespoon of flour mixture for each egg. Fully incorporate after each addition.
Gently fold in flour mixture, then lemon juice.
Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Candied Lemon Slices:

Place sugar and water in a large, shallow, saucepan. Bring to a simmer and stir until dissolved. Gently lay the lemon slices in a single layer in the saucepan. Simmer for 15mins, turning over half way through. Carefully remove from pan, dripping off excess syrup and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Allow to dry at room temperature. Dip in granulated sugar if desired.**

Notes

*At least 3" deep.

** Cooled simple syrup can be drizzled over cake or used in various beverages. I used mine in homemade iced tea.

Madeira Cake recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson. Candied Lemon recipe from Our Best Bites

Calories: 537kcalCarbohydrates: 86gProtein: 5gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 27mgPotassium: 215mgFiber: 1gSugar: 60gVitamin A: 650IUVitamin C: 11.5mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 2mg

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

Originally published Aug, 21, 2016

Comments