Madeira Loaf Cake Recipe

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I love good loaf cakes and a simple Madeira Sponge always goes down a treat. The classic British bake is great to have as part of an afternoon tea spread for the family, if a friend is coming round for a cup of tea or to take to a school bake sale. It’s easily one of our favourite cake recipes whenever we do a spot of baking.

The lemon in the mix keeps the Madeira Cake moist and gives a very slight lemon flavour but this really isn’t a lemon cake – it’s just a traditional sponge cake that everyone loves.

Can you vary this recipe?

If you don’t have fresh lemon juice you can always use a lemon extract instead. If you don’t want to use lemon for any reason you can always use vanilla essence or vanilla extract for a Vanilla Madeira Cake instead.

This sponge cake can also be made in a round cake tin but I love a loaf cake – it’s so easy to slice and looks great too. Just make sure that you grease the tin well or line with greaseproof paper. You can dust the cake with icing sugar before serving if you like too but we’re always just in too much of a hurry to eat it!

What equipment do you need for this easy Madeira loaf cake recipe?

You can make this traditional madeira cake recipe simply with things you already have in your kitchen but here are the things we use in case there’s something you don’t already have:

• Loaf tin
• Loaf tin liners
• Mixing bowl
• Scales
• Measuring spoons
• Wooden spoon
• Cake tester
• Wire rack

As you can see, this easy madeira cake recipe uses all things you probably have already. We use loaf tin liners to guarantee that bakes come out of the tin easily and they’re great when baking as gifts too.

So here’s our Lemon Madeira Cake Recipe:

Ingredients

• 180g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 180g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 160g self raising flour
• lemon zest of half a lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Recipe

• Preheat oven at 160C/300F/Gas 2
• Cream together the butter and caster sugar in a mixing bowl
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
• Sprinkle with a little caster sugar
• Pour the batter into a lined/greased loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes until brown on the top and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack and serve.

If you’d like to print or pin the classic Madeira Cake recipe for later you can do so below. Enjoy!

Print Pin

Madeira Cake Recipe

I love a good loaf cake and a simple Madeira Sponge always goes down a treat. It’s a great bake to have as part of an afternoon tea spread, if a friend is coming round for a cup of tea or to take to a school bake sale.

Course Afternoon Tea, Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword baking, cake

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8 slices

Calories 200kcal

Ingredients

• 180 g butter
• 180 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 160 g self raising flour
• zest of half a lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven at 160 C
• Cream together the butter and caster sugar
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
• Sprinkle with a little caster sugar
• Pour into a lined/greased loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes until brown on the top and a skewer comes out clean

*Note: Nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published.