The best madeira cake recipe that is easy, delicious and trusted! This traditional Madeira cake is light, soft, moist with a firm texture. Perfect for everyday baking or carved and decorated for occasions.
Madeira cake and sponge cakes are two of my most baked cakes! As a previous part-time professional cake maker, I have baked many cakes in my lifetime and I can say I have mastered the art of cake baking. In fact my cake baking days started when I was a little girl when I would help my mum make cakes for sale at the supermarket she owned then. The good old days 🙂 . I still do bake cakes for my family and above all, I enjoy eating cakes.
Cakes bring people together, whether for afternoon tea, celebration, treat at home or parties, children and adults like to have a slice or more. This cake recipe is one of the simplest cakes you'll bake.
MADEIRA CAKE RECIPE
Madeira cake is a type of British sponge cake that got its name from Madeira wine, a Portuguese wine that was popular in England in the mid-1800s. Traditional madeira cake is not made of wine but was popularly served with madeira wine back then in the 1800s hence its name. Madeira cake can be served with teas and used in celebration cakes.
This is the best madeira cake recipe and anyone can make it. When next you go grocery shopping before you reach out for that store madeira cake, remember you can make yours in easy steps, you'll know exactly what's in your homemade cake, no hidden preservatives and you can make as much cake as you want whenever you want.
In this post, I have included tools you'll need, ingredients, measurements, how to make madeira cake, tips, how to store and more. Let me show you how to make simple madeira cake in easy steps.
IS MADEIRA CAKE SAME AS VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE
No, it's not. Although madeira cake is a type of sponge cake and uses the same creaming method as pound cake and victoria sponge cake, it has a denser texture than victoria sponge cake. Madeira cake is made with more flour than victoria sponge and has a firmer texture and is, therefore, more suitable for carving as it holds shape when carved and iced. It's ideal for celebration cakes like wedding cakes. Madeira cake domes and crack at the top during baking.
TOOLS FOR BAKING CAKE
To make this recipe and for most cake recipes, you'll need these simple tools:
Mixing bowl - A mixing bowl big enough to contain the cake batter and leave room for mixing.
Mixer - Hand or stand mixer. I mostly use a hand mixer for my cakes as they are more convenient for me.
Spatula - To scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and fold the flour in.
Cake Pan - Loaf tin for madeira loaf cake, round cake pan for the 8 and 10".
Baking paper - Also called parchment paper. This is to line the cake pan so the cake comes out of the pan cleanly after baking.
Cake tester - Skewer or toothpick will do just fine. This is to test cake doneness.
Cooling rack - To cool cakes on.
INGREDIENTS FOR MADEIRA CAKE
You need just a few ingredients for this cake recipe (Detailed ingredient list and direction in the recipe card at the bottom of this page) and they are:
Butter - Bring to room temperature.
Sugar- Granulated or Caster sugar
Eggs - Bring to room temperature
Milk
Self-raising flour - Sifted. If you don't have self-raising flour, you can make it by adding a teaspoon of baking powder to every 200g of plain flour.
Lemon or Orange flavouring or Vanilla extract - Use one of these flavouring.
Lemon or orange zest - For lemon madeira cake or orange madeira cake
HOW TO MAKE MADEIRA CAKE
Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
Rub butter in the cake pan and line with baking paper/parchment paper. Set pan aside.
In a mixing bowl, add in butter and sugar then use a mixer to mix till batter is light and fluffy.
Break eggs in a seperate bowl (i like to do this so in case there's any bad egg in the batch, you wouldn't have ruined your batter). Add lemon or orange or vanilla flavouring to the eggs and whisk.
Pour the whisked eggs in the butter and sugar mixture and mix with the mixer for a few minutes.
Add flour in the batter and mix with a spatula. Fold in till incorporated.
Pour cake batter in lined cake pan and place in preheated oven. Bake at temperature of 170C for 45 minutes or till a cake tester comes out clean.
Turn cake onto a cooling rack and leave to cool.
LEMON MADEIRA CAKE RECIPE
For lemon madeira cake, use the ingredients and directions in this post but where the ingredient list indicated flavouring, use lemon flavouring (lemon extract) and zest of a whole lemon.
IS MADEIRA CAKE A POUND CAKE
No, it's not. They are similar however pound cake is made with pound measurements for each of the ingredients.
TIPS FOR MAKING MADEIRA CAKE
- Remember to preheat oven at temperature before putting cake batter in the oven. If using a conventional oven, preheat at a temperature of 170C/ gas mark 3 and for fan oven it's 150-160C.
- Put cake pans and bake cake in the middle of the oven for best heat distribution.
- Fold the flour in with a spatula (as recommended in the directions) rather than using hand mixer.
- Don't overmix batter once the flour has gone in or you might end up with dense cake.
- Put the batter in the oven immediately.
- You can add any type of flavouring like orange, lemon, nutmeg.
- Do not open the oven in the first 20 minutes while the cake is baking. This might cause the cake to sink in the middle. You can open towards the end of baking time to check for doneness.
- Cool cake on a cooling rack.
Check out these other amazing cake recipes easy coconut cake recipe, simple banana cake and carrot cake.
HOW TO STORE
Madeira cake tastes better the next day. Cakes can remain safely at room temperature for up to 5 days, however, it's best to refrigerate. Allow cake to cool completely and wrap tightly in clingfilm or foil, put in freezer bags and store in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up 6 months.
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Recipe
Best Madeira Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Oven
- Cake pan/Loaf tin
Ingredients
- 150 g Butter
- 150 g Sugar
- 3 small Eggs
- 150 g Self raising flour
- 50 g Plain flour
- 1 tablespoon Milk
- 1 teaspoon Flavouring orange or lemon or vanilla
- 1 Zest of whole Orange or Lemon (for orange or lemon madeira cake)
For 8" round madeira cake, double this recipe and share cake batter in two 8 inch cake pan.
Instructions
- Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Rub butter in the cake pan and line with baking paper/parchment paper. Set pan aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add in butter and sugar then use mixer to mix till batter is light and fluffy. Break eggs in a seperate bowl (i like to do this so incase there's any bad egg in the batch, you wouldn't have ruined your batter).
- Add milk, lemon or orange or vanilla flavouring to the eggs and whisk. Add the whisked eggs in the butter and sugar mixture and mix with the mixer for few minutes.
- Add flour in the batter and mix with spatula. Fold in till incorporated.
- Pour cake batter in lined cake pan and place in pre heated oven. Bake at temperature of 170C for 45 minutes or till cake tester comes out clean.
- Turn cake onto cooling rack and leave to cool.
- Slice cake and enjoy.
Notes
- Remember to preheat the oven before putting the cake batter in the oven. If using a conventional oven, preheat at a temperature of 170C/ gas mark 3 and for fan oven it's 150-160C.
- Put cake pans and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for best heat distribution.
- Fold the flour in with a spatula (as recommended in the directions) rather than using a hand mixer.
- Don't overmix batter once the flour has gone in or you might end up with dense cake.
- Put the batter in the oven immediately.
- You can add any type of flavouring like orange, lemon, nutmeg.
- Do not open the oven in the first 20 minutes while the cake is baking. This might cause the cake to sink in the middle. You can open towards the end of baking time to check for doneness
Nutrition
If you try this madeira cake recipe, rate it and leave a comment below.
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Hi ,
Sorry if this is a novice question but for 2 x 10 inch cakes what quantities should I use?
Thank you 🙂
Came out really well ♥️ Thank you.
Thanks a mil Kemi, the real deal, and easy. I've done it twice now, the second time I baked it in a 11x8inch pan, reduced the bake time and used it as a base for crumble cake. Worked a treat and absolutely delicious.
Thanks again S
Hi
Baking this tonight.
I hope mine turns out as good as yours. My question is regarding the calories. Are they per slice or the whole cake divided by the number of slices?
I need to make 2 6inch round cakes and three 8inch for 80th birthday cake can you suggest recipe amounts and time to bake please