Madeira cake, I always thought, came from the island of Madeira. Apparently, it doesn’t. It’s a British invention that was traditionally served with tea… or Madeira wine.
Instructions by Eliza Acton, in her Modern Cookery for Private Families published in 1845 (which contains one of the earliest ever mentions of a Madeira cake recipe), are as follows:
Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then, continuing still to whisk them, throw by slow degrees the following ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry pounded and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded beat well in the third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake an hour in a moderate oven.
Justin and I disagree on this cake; he likes the lemon but not the addition of cacao nibs and, you guessed it, I like the cacao nibs but not the lemon. We’re like Jack Sprat and his wife! Next time, I’ll divide the batter between two smaller tins. In my half, I’ll omit the lemon zest & juice and add the cacao nibs; in the other half’s half, I’ll omit the delicious little nuggets of pure chocolate!
This cake is best if allowed to cool completely and eaten on the day of baking; it gets dry quickly. Alternatively, some people recommend adding a teaspoon of glycerine per egg to help maintain its moisture.
Failing that, from day two onwards, you can always slice it and spread it with a fruit jam or jelly… or chocolate spread!
Madeira cake with cacao nibs
Ingredients
- 240 g/8½oz unsalted butter softened
- 200 g/7oz caster sugar
- 1 un-waxed lemon zest and juice
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 210 g/7½oz self-raising flour
- 90 g/3oz plain flour
- 25 g/1oz cacao nibs
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with parchment paper or pre-made loaf tin liner
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC fan/325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar
- In a small measuring jug, beat the eggs with the vanilla extract
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the plain and self-raising flour
- With the mixer on a low speed, slowly pour in the beaten eggs in three stages, alternating with the addition of a tablespoon of the flour (to stop the mixture curdling)
- Add the remaining flour, cacao nibs and lemon zest
- Mix in the lemon juice
- Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin and level using a spatula or back of a spoon
- Sprinkle the top with the granulated sugar
- Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Allow to cool in its tin for ½ hour before turning out on to a wire rack
