Lemon Drizzle Madeira Cake

Madeira Cake is a more condensed version of a sponge cake, which makes it last longer, but it can be quite dry and solid!  I've added a lemon drizzle to the top, which has made it more moist, as well as adding a touch of sharpness.  Rather like a loaf cake, the Madeira generally bursts through its top as the middle cooks more slowly than the outsides.  This has only a light lemon drizzle, done when the cake is hot - you could add another one later to give more of an iced effect.  The cake keeps well, although does tend to get "tidied up" in its tin!

Lemon Drizzle Madeira Cake

Lemon Drizzle Madeira Cake

Cake:

6oz/175g softened butter  

6oz175g caster sugar (I sometimes use soft brown)

1 tsp vanilla essence

4oz/110g plain flour sifted with

4oz/110g self-raising flour

3 large eggs, beaten

1-2 tbsps milk  

Drizzle Icing:

approx 2oz/50g sieved icing sugar

juice of a lemon, warmed

Preheat oven to 180 deg C, grease and line the base and sides of an 8” cake tin with non-stick baking parchment. 

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy.  Add the beaten eggs, about 1/3 a time and beat in.  Fold in the flour.  If the mixture is too stiff, add some milk so that the mixture drops from the spoon (do this gradually!).  

Bake for about an hour, testing after about 40 minutes.   If the cake looks as though it is getting too brown, protect the top with a piece of foil.

Near the end of the cooking time, make the icing – it should be very liquid and runny, so start with the lemon juice and add the icing sugar, and then adjust the proportion accordingly.  Take the cake out of the oven and pierce some holes with a skewer.   Slowly pour over the icing – the slower the better as it will sink into the holes as well as falling down the sides into the tin!

When you’ve poured over all the icing, remove the cake from the tin and leave to cool on a rack.