MY MOTHER-IN-LAW’S MADEIRA CAKE
 NIGELLA

Photograph by Petrina Tinslay

INGREDIENTS

240g softened unsalted butter
200g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
210g self-raising flour
90g plain flour
23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and lined
Serving Size : Makes 8–10 slices.
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METHOD

1.Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3.
2.Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about 2 tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven, and bake for 1 hour or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the tin before turning out.
ADDITIONAL INFO

I love a good old-fashioned seed cake; if you do too, add a couple of teaspoons of caraway to this mixture. For a lemon poppyseed cake, add the juice of another half lemon and a tablespoon or two of poppyseeds. And I once came across an expensive but tempting curiosity: dried strawberries, tiny things harvested by that clever Terence Conran. I upped the liquid to the juice of 2 lemons and folded in 100g of the strawberries. It was a wholly successful experiment.

REVIEWS

Although it looks plain, this cake is totally gorgeous and takes very little effort. Also one of those you don't need to ice so once it's out of the oven you don't need to do anything else to it.

clarem

If you are looking to make a simple, plain cake that is perfect with a cup of tea, look no further than this one. Very easy to make and so delicious and buttery.

Nickki

Quiet simply the best cake I have ever eaten. I make it for my family and it never fails to satisfy. Easy simple and superb

emj23

Such an easy delicious cake, soft and sweet and yummy! I made two cakes from this amount of batter.

dextersmummy

Fabulous! I was looking for a seed cake recipe as Mum had recently given me a jar of lovely fresh-smelling caraway seeds. This is just the thing! Yum yum!

Welsh Girl

I tried this one last week, the recipe is very basic but everyone loved it. I had no lemons at home so I used some vanilla sugar for flavour instead, came out perfectly! Thanks for this recipe.

LemonAndBasil

Made this yesterday and again today. The first one was for the family to try it out. We all loved it so much I made it for the party I am having tomorrow. I did not have any lemons but I did have a large bowl of home grown limes. OMG - it was lovely. A firm family fav now. The kids want it in thier lunch boxes and I am going to make a big one to give to my friend with the lime tree. Thank your mother in law from me Nigella. This one is a keeper. Karen

Kazmarri

I made this on the weekend and it was fabulous. My husband wants me to make it again this week. One thing I would half is the lemon juice as it was a little too lemony 4 us but all in all its a delight.

Renz

One of my favourite cakes! Although it is a plain cake, it still has a certain wow factor, maybe because it reminds people how good simple home-cooking can be. I think I make it more often than any of Nigella's other cakes! It is incredibly easy to make, and is perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

cremebrulee

Quite simply, this is the best madeira cake recipe I have ever had the pleasure of making - and I have made a few! :-9

CucinaItaliana

This cake is inexplicably good. I added a bit of vanilla and tossed in a half or so bag of frozen blueberries, and it really sang. The combination of the crunchy top with the melting inside make this the ultimate cake--not only easy, but, as others have said, also lacking the need for frosting, or any adornment, really.

Terryplutz
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