Skip to main content

Lemon, Lime, and Chamomile Madeira Cake

I know I promised I would make an opera cake next, but grocery limitations prevented my plans. I am giving Vincent the benefit of the doubt... I am sure the store just didn't have any passionfruit (the alternative being that he just didn't see it). The opera cake will be forthcoming whenever I can find passionfruit.

Instead, I made a Madeira cake yesterday! The Madeira cake was the signature bake for series 6, episode one. Madeira cake, named after Madeira wine rather than the island itself, is apparently a British classic. That said, I have never had it, nor have I seen it served while I was living in England. I suppose the Victoria sponge and lemon drizzle are just more classic.

Therefore, I had to do some research before starting this bake, and had to hope I was doing things correctly.

The Great British Bake Off described a traditional Madeira cake as being flavored with lemon, so I was expecting it to be a non-drizzly variation of a lemon drizzle cake. Surprisingly to me, a traditional Madeira cake has no lemon flavoring besides the zest of one lemon and candied lemon garnish.

I went into this project wanting to keep somewhat to the traditional lemon flavor, so I went with lemon, lime, and chamomile tea (a subtle, but mellowing accompaniment). I added some juice in addition to zest to help the lemon and lime flavors come through more powerfully.

I had two big challenges with this bake- how much leavening agent to use, and how to incorporate the chamomile flavor.
All my research for this bake showed the use of self-raising flour for the bake- a very English thing to find. I did not have self-raising flour or easy access to it, so I had to play around with the quantity of salt and baking powder I used. I wanted to use enough to give the cake rise, but not enough to make it bitter. For my first attempt, I added the amount of baking powder generally recommended to make one's own homemade self-raising flour. It ended up being too much baking powder, and while the cake rose well in the oven, it sank in on itself in the middle as soon as I took it out to cool. I adjusted the quantity of baking powder for a much more successful bake.
The incorporation of the chamomile was not very difficult, but did add a few steps to the traditional bake. The cake batter for a Madeira cake is very thick. I would typically steep the chamomile for a time in a liquid ingredient (water or milk) in order to incorporate the tea flavor, but I did not want to dilute the batter. I found success steeping the chamomile in a melted sugar mixture, with two successful methods of incorporation. The first is to cool the chamomile sugar mixture and mix it with softened butter before adding the other ingredients. The second is to use very cold butter and pour the hot sugar mixture on top of it before mixing other ingredients.

The cake that came out after a low, very slow bake had the perfect doming and crack on the top which are described by Mary Berry in the episode. The addition of ground almonds provides a crumbly texture and pleasant mouthfeel. The citrus and chamomile flavors come through without overpowering the cake. It truly would be appropriate with some English Breakfast tea.




Lemon, Lime, and Chamomile Madeira Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 C unsalted butter, very cold
175g granulated sugar, divided
50g confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lime
3 large eggs 
2 tbsp  chamomile tea leaves
1/4 C water
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
250g all purpose flour
50g almond flour (50g more all purpose flour for a nut-free substitution)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C). Grease and line a loaf tin.
  2. Bring water and 150g granulated sugar to a simmer over low heat. Add chamomile and let simmer for 30 minutes, keeping an eye to not let the sugar burn.
  3. Mix cold butter, remaining granulated sugar, confectioner's sugar, and hot sugar/chamomile mixture until creamed together. Add vanilla extract, lemon and lime zest, lemon and lime juice, eggs, salt, baking powder, all purpose flour, and almond flour and mix thoroughly.
  4. Pour mixture into greased loaf tin. Bake 1 hour, 25 minutes, or until a crack forms and a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Cool 10 minutes in tin, and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lemon Lavender and Coconut Key Lime Eclairs

I have been looking forward to this challenge for a few weeks. Now that I've completed it, I no longer feel so thrilled. The end result is tasty, although I got a little impatient with the decoration. The showstopper challenge from Series 5, Episode 7 was 24 eclairs- of two different flavors. I chose to make 12 lemon and lavender eclairs and 12 coconut key lime eclairs. One of my good friends specifically requested that I do this bake as soon as he saw the words key lime .  I wasted so many eggs trying to make my choux pastry. Making the choux pastry dough is not very difficult, but I kept messing up on the bake times. When choux pastry is properly baked, a nice hollow pocket will form, and the pastry will hold its shape for near-perpetuity. As I found out, the pastry will gradually deflate and the hollow pocket will collapse if the pastry is not baked long enough. I also found out- after finally making some decent choux one night- that the pastry will become soft and col...
1 comment
Read more

Mandelbrodt- Jewish Biscotti!

The signature challenge for Series 6, Episode 2 of The Great British Bake Off  is to make two dozen biscotti. Biscotti are traditionally an Italian cookie distinct for its twice-baked hard exterior. Fillings are somewhat variable. An eastern European Jewish variation of biscotti is called mandelbrodt. Mandelbrodt literally translates to English as "almond bread". Except for when I make mandelbrodt for my aunt, who is allergic to all nuts, I always include almonds and some almond extract. These biscuits are very hardy and are a good, easy crowd-pleaser. The recipe which I use calls for oil rather than butter, making them pareve (neither dairy nor meat). They are good to serve as a dessert for a crowd, or are good to bring as a snack on road trips. Due to the fact that they are rather hard, they do not easily go stale, and will stay fresh for a while. For once, I will not disclose the recipe which I used. The recipe is, I believe, my great-great-grandmother's; it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Iced Lavender Biscuits (Cookies)

 Following the success of my llama cookies a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make these iced lavender biscuits for my take on the 24 Iced Biscuits challenge from Series 7, Episode 2 of The Great British Bake Off. Mind you, these are biscuits in the English sense of the word- a.k.a. cookies to us Americans. Not American biscuits, which are more like English scones in shape and texture. And let's not get into the nonsensical things that Americans call scones... These lavender biscuits are a flavorful variation of the typical sugar cookie. The lavender gives a light floral flavor. Also, my addition of fresh lemon juice to the royal icing helps to balance out the earthiness of the lavender. In order to get a substantial lavender flavor in these biscuits, I added both dried lavender and lavender extract to the cookie dough. I desiccated the dried lavender and mixed it in with the granulated sugar. Although it would be possible to break down the lavender with a mortar and pestle, I do ...
Post a Comment
Read more