Kake Lover
Veteran
After much trial and error and googling, I have found out how to make the perfect cake for decorating for parties. It keeps well so is ideal for making ahead of time, it's easier to ice than a victoria sandwich because it is less crumbly, and it also carves well, so easy to serve neat slices.
These quantities are for an 8 inch or 20 cm diameter round deep cake cake tin.
Ingredients
8 oz butter - needs to be butter for the flavour and needs to be at room temperature for smooth mixing
8 oz golden caster sugar - use granulated if you can't get caster
4 eggs - medium to large
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla essence - worth it for the flavour
1 teaspoon glycerin - important to ensure the cake is not too dry
8 oz self-raising flour
4 oz plain flour
Method
Cream the butter and sugar really well until it is very pale.
Sift the flours together into another bowl.
Whisk the eggs and beat into the batter a very little at a time adding some of the flour with each addition of egg. Also beat in the vanilla essence and glycerin at this point.
Sift the flour into the cake batter and gently fold in by hand using a large metal spoon, ( don't use an electric mixer for this bit).
Pour the batter into the lined or well greased cake tin. ( Tip: use a smear of butter to keep the baking parchment paper flat against the sides of the tin).
Madiera cake rises up to quite a significant dome when cooking so create a really big dip in the mixture, almost to the bottom of the tin and push the mixture up the sides of the tin.
Bake at 140°C for about 50 mins to an hour until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out the cake UPSIDE DOWN onto a clean tea towel on a flat surface, not a cake rack. This will help to produce a softer flat top ready to be iced.
If you are not going to ice the cake and like the way a madeira cake has a crunchy cracked top, then you can cool the cake the normal way - the right way up.
The cake can now be wraped up in greaseproof paper or cling film and kept in an airtight container for several days until needed.
Icing
Cut the cake in half through the middle - a large bread knife is good for this- and spread with buttercream and / or jam .Sandwich them together.
For the top and sides: Use your favourite icing. Buttercream or glace icing will go straight on but if you want to use fondant icing, coat the cake in very thin layer of buttercream first, or a thin coating of hot aprict jam and a layer of marzipan. Using marzipan under the icing helps the cake to stay moist if you are making and decorating the cake ahead of time.
These quantities are for an 8 inch or 20 cm diameter round deep cake cake tin.
Ingredients
8 oz butter - needs to be butter for the flavour and needs to be at room temperature for smooth mixing
8 oz golden caster sugar - use granulated if you can't get caster
4 eggs - medium to large
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla essence - worth it for the flavour
1 teaspoon glycerin - important to ensure the cake is not too dry
8 oz self-raising flour
4 oz plain flour
Method
Cream the butter and sugar really well until it is very pale.
Sift the flours together into another bowl.
Whisk the eggs and beat into the batter a very little at a time adding some of the flour with each addition of egg. Also beat in the vanilla essence and glycerin at this point.
Sift the flour into the cake batter and gently fold in by hand using a large metal spoon, ( don't use an electric mixer for this bit).
Pour the batter into the lined or well greased cake tin. ( Tip: use a smear of butter to keep the baking parchment paper flat against the sides of the tin).
Madiera cake rises up to quite a significant dome when cooking so create a really big dip in the mixture, almost to the bottom of the tin and push the mixture up the sides of the tin.
Bake at 140°C for about 50 mins to an hour until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out the cake UPSIDE DOWN onto a clean tea towel on a flat surface, not a cake rack. This will help to produce a softer flat top ready to be iced.
If you are not going to ice the cake and like the way a madeira cake has a crunchy cracked top, then you can cool the cake the normal way - the right way up.
The cake can now be wraped up in greaseproof paper or cling film and kept in an airtight container for several days until needed.
Icing
Cut the cake in half through the middle - a large bread knife is good for this- and spread with buttercream and / or jam .Sandwich them together.
For the top and sides: Use your favourite icing. Buttercream or glace icing will go straight on but if you want to use fondant icing, coat the cake in very thin layer of buttercream first, or a thin coating of hot aprict jam and a layer of marzipan. Using marzipan under the icing helps the cake to stay moist if you are making and decorating the cake ahead of time.
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