Madeira Cake with orange icing

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!!