Tags
Baking, GBBO, kitchenalia, Mary Berry, Mrs Beeton, Paul Hollywood, Vintage
Madeira cake is something I’ve never tried, let alone made! But on last weeks first episode of The Great British Bake Off this was a basic cake bake for the competing bakers. Under the watchful glare of Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. So I turned to my copy of Mrs Beeton’s Cookery book to see whether she had a recipe.
So here we go! I’m even going to make it as she asks, with a wooden spoon rather than the Kitchenaid!
- 12oz / 350 g flour
- 6oz / 175g caster sugar
- 1 large egg or 2 medium
- 225g / 8 oz butter
- Grated rind of half a lemon
- A little milk
- A slice of candied peel

Mix ingredients with a wooden spoon and just keep mixing until its light and creamy. Mix a bit more!

Fold in the flour with a metal spoon , slowly and not all at once. I tend to make a mess with flour!!!

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over. Sprinkle some candied peel across the top.
This is a heavy cake and needs a slow bake. My fan assisted oven was set at 140. I also put a Pyrex ramekin of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam so I could try and keep the cake moist.
And I have to say, I will never make it again! Three efforts at making all ended in disaster. It is a heavy cake but mine was like a biscuit! Each time I turned to the Google God to help me explain. I lowered the temperature on the oven. I put a pot of water in the oven. I wrapped the tin in newspaper. Each time I was true to Mrs B’s recipe and each time was a car crash! I had a slice of the Victoria sandwich whilst I worked and that was truly divine. The Queen’s cakes have a fan base. This is destined for the food recycling bin!
The two Mrs B’s (including me) will be back next week. I shall lick my Madeira wounds and make something glorious next week!
Verdict – Epic Fail 😦
Love Wish Vintage xx
Oh no! I’m so sorry that your cake didn’t work out!! But I love that you posted a recipe anyway. I love seeing when blogs are used as test kitchens. Makes it more relatable. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. It’s frustrating that it didn’t work and I know it’s my fault but I posted it anyway because someone will make sense of it I hope but also because we all know that it doesn’t always work. Thank you for your nice comments x
LikeLiked by 1 person