Why Is It Called A Madeira Cake If It Doesn't Contain Madeira Wine?

Our answer

Nigella's My Mother-In-Law's Madeira Cake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a satisfyingly plain cake. Madeira cake has almost equal weights of flour, sugar, butter and eggs and has a firmer texture that a Victoria sponge as it has very litte chemical leavening.

The cake is also known as pound cake in the US and quatre-quarts in France, but it gained the name Madeira cake in the UK in the early 1800's as a slice of the cake was often served alongside a glass of Madeira wine (the fortified wine that comes from Madeira). One of the earliest printed recipes for the cake is in Eliza Acton's book Modern Cookery for Private Families in 1845.