Madeira cake
Encyclopedia
Madeira cake is a sponge cake
Sponge cake
Sponge cake is a cake based on flour , sugar, and eggs, sometimes leavened with baking powder which has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. A sponge cake may be produced by either the batter method, or the foam method. Typicially the batter method in the U.S. is known as a...

 in traditional English cookery.
The Madeira Cake has a firm yet light texture, eaten with tea or rarely for breakfast and is traditionally flavoured with lemon. Dating back to an original recipe in the 18th century or 19th century, it is not unlike a simple pound cake
Pound cake
Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. The traditional recipe makes a cake much larger than most families can consume, and so the quantity is often changed to suit the size of the cake that is desired...

 or yellow 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, which was popular in England at the time and was often served with the cake.

The Madeira Cake was named after the wine, which accompanied the dish. Although the cake was often served traditionally with Madeira wine
Madeira wine
Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. Some wines produced in small quantities in California and Texas are also referred to as "Madeira", or "Madera", although those wines do not conform to the EU PDO regulations...

 during the 19th century, it can now be served with tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

 or liquors.

It is not to be confused with the traditional cake of Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

 island called Bolo de Mel
Bolo de Mel
Bolo de Mel is a traditional cake that originates from the Madeira Islands. This cake is considered to be Madeira's oldest dessert. The cake became a popular confection when the island was an important sugar producer, since the cake itself is traditionally made with molasses instead of the now...

, a cake made from sugarcane honey (molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...

).
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK