English Madeira Cake ~ A cake with a firm yet light texture, similar to pound cake and traditionally flavoured with lemon.
Many people mistakenly believe Madeira cake 1.contains Madeira wine or 2. is from the Madeira Islands.
Whilst the cake neither has Madeira wine or is from the islands (see Bolo de mel) it is still named after the Portuguese wine, as Madeira wine was popular in England at the time (18th or 19th century) and was often served with the cake.
I don’t know about you but I prefer a halal drink of tea with my cake.
Recipe for the cake is here (I baked the 20cm cake but recipes for smaller and larger Madeira Cakes are also there).
The light glaze I added is simply; 95 gram icing sugar, sifted in a large bowl and a tablespoon or so of water (you could use lemon juice if you prefer) added, mixed together and poured over the cake when it is cool.
