The other day I managed to score some lovely lemons from my great aunt's tree. I then developed some inspiration to impart some of their tangy flavour on some of my baking. I decided on this Madeira Cake and boy am I glad that I decided to make this one.
It had the slight hint of citrus along with a moist and buttery crumb. Please do try it, you won't be disappointed.
225 g butter (I used Lite Margarine)
220g (1 cup) caster sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
280g (2 cups) flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 heaped tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
125 ml (1/2 cup) lukewarm milk
-Line a 20-23 cm cake tin with paper or grease well with non-stick spray.
-Cream butter and sugar with an electric beater
-Add eggs, one at a time, adding three tablespoons of the measured flour during the process
-Mix in vanilla essence and lemon zest
-Sift flour,cream of tartar and salt together onto a large piece of baking paper.
-Dissolve baking soda in a teaspoonful (Perhaps a bit more) of boiling water, then mix with the lukewarm milk.
-Fold 3/4 of the dry ingredients into the creamed mix, then mix in half the milk. Fold in the rest of the dry ingredients, then the rest of the milk.
-Spoon mix into tin. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 1 hour, or until golden and well risen. A skewer inserted into the centre also needs to come out clean. Cool in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack and finish cooling. Ice once cool.
Icing:
1-2 tbsp smooth apricot jam
240g (2 cups) sifted icing sugar
Juice from 1-2 oranges
Brush the outside of the cake with a little apricot jam. Mix sieved icing sugar with orange juice to give a thick, yet pourable consistency. Spread over the cake, letting it drip down the sides
Enjoy!!
