Classic Orange Madeira Cake Recipe

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This orange Madeira cake recipe is a slight twist on the original lemon version. Perfect with a cup of tea or in as the cake part of trifle.

Traditional English Madeira Cake
[Ramón Antiñolo]/stock.adobe.com

Madeira cake is a traditional English cake that is firm but has a light texture. It is the perfect cake to have with a nice cup of English Breakfast tea.

It gets its name, not from the Madeira Islands but because it was often served with Madeira wine. Sometimes it is even served for breakfast!

Although Madeira cake is often considered a type of sponge cake, it is similar to a pound or butter cake rather than a traditional Victorian sponge.

That’s because you cream the butter and sugar like a pound cake and use baking powder to help it rise. Victorian sponge relies on beaten egg white to make it rise.

Madeira cake is therefore much easier to bake than a sponge, yet you get that sponge-like texture it’s famous for.

Have this cake plain, or snazzy it up with a lemony glaze drizzled over the top. Use orange juice instead of the lemon for an orange glaze that will complement the orange Madeira cake perfectly.

Plain, it forms the base of traditional English trifle, which is not only a delicious dessert, it takes a rather plain cake and turns it into something special.

If you have stale cake or cake that didn’t come out of the tin properly, trifle is a good way to give new life to it.

The recipe has ground almonds, which is what gives the cake it’s like texture. To reduce the cost, check Aldi for ground almonds or make your own almond meal.

Yield: 1 cake

Orange Madeira Cake

Traditional English Madeira Cake

This orange Madeira cake recipe is a slight twist on the original lemon version. Perfect with a cup of tea or in as the cake part of trifle.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 150g (5oz) butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 tsp. finely grated orange rind
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 1 3/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
  • icing sugar to dust

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and line a loaf or cake tin.
  2. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg beating thoroughly. Beat in the rind.
  3. Fold in ground almonds and flour until well combined and smooth.
  4. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for around 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
  5. Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Notes

You can substitute the orange rind with lemon rind for a lemon Madeira cake.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 307Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 396mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 2gSugar: 34gProtein: 7g

Nutritional information is calculated automatically using the Nutritionix database. Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, serving size or the source of nutrition data. We strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy. We encourage readers to make their own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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