The Home Economics Bit
Madeira cake is a classic British bake that is really easy to make. Most often it is delicately flavoured with vanilla, ground almonds or lemon zest. Madeira cake is to Britain as Pound cake is to the US. The name “Madeira cake” was coined in Britain back in the early 1800’s, when it was popular amongst the upper classes to serve a slice of this type of cake with a glass of Madeira wine.
Gluten Free Madeira Cake
My gluten free take on a classic British cake. Madeira cake is similar to sponge cake though it is denser in texture, and it is most often just lightly flavoured with the zest of a citrus fruit, some ground almonds or vanilla extract.
Ingredients
- 200 g gluten free self raising flour blend (or 200g plain gluten free flour blend and 1 tsp baking powder) sifted
- 175 g butter at room temperature
- 175 g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4).
- Line an 8 inch loaf tin with a loaf tin liner, or grease it and line with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
- Beat together the butter and caster sugar for 4-5 minutes, until the mixture looks pale and smooth. Stop the mixer once or twice if necessary to scrape down the sides and the base of the mixing bowl using a rubber spatula.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and *1 tbsp of the GF flour blend. Beat again for 1-2 minutes. Stop the mixer if necessary to scrape down the sides and the base of the mixing bowl using a rubber spatula.
- Sieve in the gluten free self raising flour blend. Beat for 1-2 minutes until the everything is evenly incorporated, creating a pale, smooth mixture. Stop the mixer if necessary to scrape down the sides and the base of the mixing bowl using a rubber spatula.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until the cake is well risen and golden brown, and a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
* Adding 1 tbsp of flour at the same time as the eggs will help to prevent the mixture looking curdled.