Madeira cake

Madeira cake is a sponge or butter cake in traditional British cookery.

Origin

It is sometimes mistakenly thought to originate from the Madeira Islands but was in fact named after Madeira wine from the islands, popular in England in the mid-1800s and often served with the cake.<ref name=chef>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Madeirans produce their own traditional cake – {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, dark, spicy and honey-flavoured – which is very different.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cake

The cake has a firm yet light texture. It is eaten with tea or (occasionally) for breakfast and is traditionally flavoured with lemon.<ref name=simple>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nowadays, the English Madeira cake is often served with tea or liqueurs.<ref name=cake /> Dating back to an original recipe in the 18th or 19th century,<ref name=chef /><ref name=cake>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Madeira cake is similar to a pound cake or yellow cake.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One of the earliest published recipes was by Eliza Acton in her Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845):<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Quote