My lot despise Christmas cake and Christmas pudding so I make this every festive season to keep them quiet. It’s old fashioned but it’s scrumptious. It’s also simple to make so you won’t be adding any pressure to yourself this Christmas.
Ingredients
· 425g plain flour
· 75g self-raising flour
· 350g butter
· 350g castor sugar
· Grind of 1 lemon
· 6 large eggs or 7 medium eggs
· 150 mls milk
Oven temp:
· Pre-heat to gas mark 3 – 160oc
Tin used:
· Bundt tin used for shape and look ( equally you can use a deep 10 inch/25cm round cake tin)
Method
1. Weigh out all the ingredients.
2. Sift the plain flour and self-raising flour twice onto a sheet of greaseproof paper.
3. Cream the butter, sugar and lemon rind until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of sieved flour with each egg after the first.
5. Fold in the remaining flour. Stir in the milk to make a soft mixture.
6. Fill the mixture into the rubber Bundt tin (if you are using a cake tin make sure you line and grease it) and smooth the top.
7. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approx. 21/4 hours.
8. When cooked leave in the mold/tin for 30 min then turn it out and leave to cool on a wire tray.
Tips
1. Using plain and self-raising flour gives the cake a finer texture when compared with using plain flour and baking powder.
2. It is very important to use the correct amount of eggs for this recipe.
Icing (optional):
1. Mix 350g of icing sugar with the juice of 1 lemon 1tbls of boiling water. Mix by hand or use an electric mixer.
2. Cut 4 strips of parchment paper and line your cake stand as seen below.
3. Lay your cake on top of the parchment ready for icing.
4. Spoon the icing over the cake as seen below.
5. Wait for the icing to dry and pull the strips of parchment from the cake as demonstrated.
And voila your delicious madeira is ready for serving.
