Madeira cake 马德拉蛋糕

Classic English Cake

When I found out our newly recruited HR manager was going to celebrate her birthday on Sunday, 29th April, I decided to make her a birthday cake to share it in our Friday morning tea meeting in conjunction with the welcoming of her joining the company.

However, given the short notice and a week day, I didn’t have much time to prepare in the evening after work.  Eventually I chose to make a simple and easy cake. I was pleased Ray offered a helping hand that night and we had a fun bonding time in making the cake together. 

My handsome kitchen helper

Flipping through recipes, I came across this lemony and buttery Madeira cake. Following the Victoria Sandwich I made earlier, this was another classic and simple to make English sponge cake. This cake was traditionally consumed with a glass of Madeira wine, where the name of the cake originated from. Nowadays it is good to go with a cup of tea too.

This cake took longer baking time than usual, about an hour at lower temperature of 160 degree Celsius. Initially, when I saw the cake with cracked surface, I thought it was yet another failed project.
The next morning, I did some google search and was relieved to learn that it was normal for Madeira cake to have peaks and crack on the surface.  I found the cake texture to be very light and a bit dry. It is no wonder the English like it to go with Wine.

I was wondering if I should increase the portion of butter or reduce the baking time for my next trial.

Madeira Cake

I was glad the birthday girl Sandee liked the cake; we had a small celebration at her office before sharing with the rest of the managers in our morning tea meeting.

Happy birthday Sandee

MADEIRA CAKE Baking Time : 60 minutes Preparation Time : 10 minutes Ingredients (serves 6) 180g unsalted butter, softened Use real unsalted butter. Margarine and spreads have too high water content. 3/4 cup (185g) caster sugar 3 eggs, at room temperature beaten 11/3 cup (165g) self-raising flour, sifted 2 tsp finely grated lemon rind 1 tsp  lemon juice ( I use more – I whole lemon) 2 tsp caster sugar , extra to sprinkle Icing sugar to dust 1 tbsp lemon zest Method 1.      Preheat oven to 160°C (315 F). Lightly grease and line the base and sides of an 18CM (7”) round cake tin. Use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. This will take about 5-10 minutes. 3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.   4. Fold in flour, lemon juice and lemon rind stir with a spatula until just combined. 5.      When smooth, spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.  6.      Sprinkle extra sugar on top. 7.      Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. 8.      Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, dust with icing sugar and garnish with lemon zest. 马德拉蛋糕 材料： 180克无盐牛油，软化 使用无盐牛油。人造牛油有含水量过高。 细砂糖3/4杯（185克） 3个鸡蛋，拌打 1 1/3杯（165克）过筛自发面粉 2茶匙精细磨碎的柠檬皮 1茶匙柠檬汁（我用 - 我整个柠檬） 2小匙额外细砂糖，洒 糖粉装饰 1汤匙柠檬皮   方法 1。将烤箱预热至160℃（315 F）。 2。使用电动搅拌机拌打无盐牛油和糖直到轻和蓬松变白,这将需要大约5-10分钟。 3。加入鸡蛋，一次一个，每次加入后拌匀。 4。加入过筛自发面粉，柠檬汁和柠檬皮搅拌均匀。 5。把蛋糕的混合料倒入已铺上纸及涂上油的18厘米/'7'圆形烤盘里, 稍微颠一颠模子, 平整面糊。 6。在蛋糕的混合料上面洒上砂糖。 7。将蛋糕糊放入预热好的烤箱,烤1个小时，直到插入串在中心, 串出来干净即可。 8。烤好后，将模子冷却15分钟, 再脱模。 9。如果需要的话，洒上糖粉和柠檬皮装饰。