I am trying to bake or cook at least one interesting thing a week. Today I have attempted baking a Madeira Cake, following a trusted Nigella recipe. (http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/my-mother-in-laws-madeira-cake-103) I am not on a level where I can conquer up my own unique baking recipes (although I am already getting there when cooking) - it's what happens when you have a mother who loves to cook such delicious meals every evening and I don't have to lift up a finger!
Here is the result (sorry for the terrible quality of the photo! The cake was devoured before I was able to take a proper photo!):
Madeira Cakes are light, fluffy and very tasty sponge cakes. They are basically lighter versions of pound cakes but they are made with lemon zest. They used to be served with Madeira wine in England during the 1800’s. The cake ages well and becomes more flavoursome with time. I made some candied lemon rind and slices. Here is the recipe:
Dissolve 1 cup of white sugar in 1 cup of water. Once the sugar is completely dissolved (it takes about 1 minute), add thinly sliced pieces of lemon or lemon rinds. Let it simmer on medium to low heat (do not let it boil!) for 40 minutes to an hour. Remove from the syrup and place on parchment paper to dry. Store in an airtight container. When you use only lemon rinds, try not to get any of the white flesh in the lemon, for this makes it rather bitter. I use the left-over syrup for a very sweet (and unhealthy) salad dressing or to drizzle over my cake slices.
Have you ever had Madeira Cake?
Now, let us eat cake!
0 comments: