Zingy citrus Madeira cake recipe
Madeira cake is more robust than a normal sponge cake – perfect for soaking with a citrusy syrup and a drizzle of thin icing.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 150g/5½oz caster sugar
- 150g/5½oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 3 free-range eggs
- 200g/7oz self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- pinch salt
- 2 oranges, finely grated zest only
- 1 large unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
To decorate
- 1 large orange, rind, and juice only
- 1 large unwaxed lemon, rind, and juice only
- 75g/2½oz caster sugar
- 150g/5½oz icing sugar
Method
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Preheat the oven to 180C/165C Fan/Gas 4. Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin with butter and line with baking parchment.
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In a bowl, cream the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Fold in the flour, a pinch of salt, and the citrus zests.
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Pour the batter into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake for 1 hour. Check the cake after 40 minutes, if it is starting to brown too much cover with aluminum foil for the remaining cooking time. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
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Leave the cake to cool in the tin while you make the sugar syrup.
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To decorate, cut the lemon and orange rind into very thin strips. Add 100ml/3½fl oz water and the caster sugar to a saucepan over low heat, stir gently until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil then add the rind to the pan, reserve a few strips of rind for decoration. Cook for about 5 minutes until a syrup forms and the rind is translucent.
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Brush the syrup over the still-warm cake and set it aside to cool completely. When the cake is completely cold, remove it from the tin.
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To make the icing, mix the citrus juices. Mix the icing sugar with enough juice to make a thin icing. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake and finish with a few thin strips of citrus rind.
