While we're waiting for the next book review, how about a brief pause while we sample a perennial Neels favorite. Madeira Cake.Nearly every Neels I've read lately has the characters consuming Madeira cake. In some books this happens multiple times. Since I don't drink (or cook) with alcoholic beverages, I seemed doomed to never try this...until a couple of days ago.
I was doing a little research for the blog when I ran across a recipe for Madeira Cake. Here's a little blurb from Wikipedia:
"Madeira cake is a sponge cake in traditional English cookery. The Madeira Cake has a firm yet light texture and is traditionally flavoured with lemon. It is not unlike a simple pound cake. The Madeira Cake is sometimes mistakenly thought to originate from the Madeira Islands; however, that is not the case as it was instead named after the wine, popular in England at the time....Madeira wine is not usually included in the cake itself."
What? No wine in it? I found several recipes, compared ingredients and methods, and ended up making a version of my own. I think I got it fairly close, but to me the cake seemed a bit dry. Maybe that's why it's called Madeira cake - because you need something to wash it down with.
Madeira Cake
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon
3 Tbsp. milk
the zest from one lemon
Preheat oven to 350'. Grease a 6" cake tin (put parchment in the bottom, if desired).
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little flour with each. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Fold in the remainder of the flour alternately with the milk to produce a smooth, fairly soft batter. Place in prepared tin. Bake for about 1 1/4 hours (I had mine in a little less). When the cake has cooked for about an hour, sprinkle a little sugar on top - and let it continue baking.
The cake seems to brown fairly quickly - but nearly all the pictures that I saw showed a pretty brown cake. Most of the "authentic" recipes that I found called for self-rising flour and caster sugar. I don't happen to have those ingredients to hand, so this recipe is about as close as I can come, using the resources readily available to me (and our readers). Enjoy.
Yum. That looks so yummy and so genteel, I might add. I see you're going to be our go-to girl on the foodie front.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that I might need to make a library trip and check out a few BN. Just to getup to speed on the food.
ReplyDeleteSelf-rising flour is available in the US, but called self-raising. (Basically it has a certain proportion of baking powder and salt for each cup of flour.)
ReplyDeleteCaster sugar is just extra-fine sugar, which is sold in US but is hard to find.
(And yes, I'm going to comment on every post, just as a sign of respect, love of the blog, and because I've clearly waited my entire life to hang with some Betty Neels homeys... I'm just glad I only have a month of backlog to work through!)
My British Army neighbor reports that madeira cake is often "daubed" with "rum syrup". She "daubed" each serving of cake with syrup using a pastry brush until it was good and damp.
ReplyDeleteRum Syrup:
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Non-alcoholic substitutes for Rum Syrup:
Imitation Rum Syrup:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Citrus Syrup:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
It's funny (yet irritating) the silly way that things get their names. Polka dots have nothing to do with the polka, the dotted fabric design just came out when polkas were popular. I'm still stumped by Mag and her eggy comforter......I wonder if it is because when you bundle a baby up and just their little chubby round face is showing they look like "eggy in a blanket"?
DeleteBetty von Susie
I read somewhere just recently (but I can't remember where) that Madeira cake is indeed Madeira-less but must be served with Madeira alongside. I found a bracing but genteel cup of tea dId just as well.
ReplyDelete