Madeira Cake is easy, basic, buttery-ish, and great for cake decorating with fondant or sugarpaste because of its sturdy nature. But it’s perfect for dunking too!
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It’s one of my favourite plain cakes. I love using Madeira Cakes for celebration cakes because its dense texture makes it easier to handle and it lasts for up to 2 weeks. Not only does it last a long time, its dense texture makes it the perfect cake for decorating with buttercream and fondant (sugar paste).
You’ll find handy hints on baking and cake pan sizes below.
Madeira Cake Tips
As Madeira cakes have a dome shape when baked, you could try scooping out the middle of the batter and leaving a little hole in the middle before placing in the oven. This does help produce a flatter top but I don’t bother.
However, you could try placing a flower nail in the middle of your cake pan. I find that this does reduce the dome dramatically.
To level the cake, once you’ve released it from the cake tin, put a saucer in the cake tin and place the cake on top of it. You could then just slice off the dome using the top of the cake tin as a marker.
How long does Madeira Cake Last?
The cake will easily last a week (even 2) if kept in an airtight container, to stop it drying out. This means that if you are decorating it, you can take a couple of days for complicated ideas! Just remember to use a milk free buttercream icing!
Rainbow Madeira Cake
For a rainbow look when you slice the cake, just divide the batter up into 2 or 3 portions and colour with food colouring of your choice.
My granny used to do this with her butter cakes and we grew up calling them rainbow cakes. I like to do this for girls’ birthday cakes and always get a reaction.
Greasing and Lining Cake Pans
In reply to a question posed by a reader, how to know whether to line or not, as written in my recipe card:
Many cake tins used to need lining. These days though, you have the silicone sort and also non lining types. So if yours is an older style tin, grease, line, grease. The first greasing of the pan is to ensure that the baking paper sticks to the pan. Makes filling the tin with the batter so much easier, as the baking paper won’t be moving around in your tin.
Cake pans that don’t need lining will just require some light greasing. If you have just bought your cake pan, it should have instructions. If in doubt, just grease, line and grease.
Cake Pan Conversions (Scaling Up Cake Recipes)
My cake pans all have a depth of between 3 – 4 inches (about 7.5 – 10 cm). You definitely want to use a cake pan that has a minimum depth of 3″ (7.5 cm), to allow for the rise.
Starting with the recipe below for an 8″ cake, multiply by the corresponding quantity for each size.
4″/10cm – divide by 2.5 bake for about 40 minutes
6″/15cm – divide by 1.5 bake for about 45 – 50 minutes
7″/17cm – divide by 1.25 and bake for about 50 minutes
9″/23cm – x 1 and a quarter (1.25) bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes
10″/25cm – x 1.5 bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes
11″/28cm – x 2 bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes
12″/30cm – x 2.5 bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes
How to use Flower Nails for baking cakes?
For larger cakes, above 10″, I would suggest that you use flower nails when baking your cake. This is a flower nail. The reason for this is so the middle of your madeira cake will bake more evenly. As the metal flower nail heats up, it will conduct heat to the batter in the middle, so the sides don’t bake and brown way before the middle.
I much prefer using flower nails to a heating core.
Flower nails can also help to reduce the dome shape of a cake. Madeira cakes do tend to have dome shapes because of their higher moisture content.
How many you use will depend on the size of the cake. You can use more than one, placed at intervals, if necessary, especially if you are baking a long cake. This is how you do it:
- Grease your flower nails. I hate all specially formulated cake release, and only ever use butter for greasing.
- Place your nails upside down in the cake tin.
- Pour the batter over and bake. Remove the cake nails before slicing/decorating.
- Reduce the baking time by at least 10 – 20 minutes. This will depend on the size of your cake.
What are Cake Baking Strips?
Cake baking strips are insulating strips that are place around a cake pan to stop the edges of the cake from baking too quickly, and therefore browning too much. Cakes with a high liquid content, tend to brown quicker, especially eggless cakes.
So baking strips are perfect for eggless cakes.
If you are baking large cakes, whether madeira cake or not, these baking strips also come in handy, you can use them on their own, or in conjunction with flower nails.
Converting round to square cake pans
Move down in number by 1 inch. For e.g.:
8″ round cake pan = 7″ square cake pan
9″ round cake pan = 8″ square cake pan
Other Cake Pan Shapes
Round cake tins = Petal tins (i.e., same measurements)
8″ round tin = 8″ petal tin
Square cake tins = Hexagonal tins
8″ square cake tin = 8″ hexagonal cake tin
For more design ideas, check out the Cake Decorating Page.
You’ll also find lots of helpful tutorials like how to ice and fill a cake and how to cover a cake with fondant or sugarpaste icing.
Madeira Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 220 g regular salted butter
- 220 g caster sugar superfine sugar (not powdered/icing)
- 250 g AP flour
- 2 Tbsp evaporated milk
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160˚C (fan 140˚C)/320˚F.
- Line and grease your cake tin as required.
- Sift the flour and baking powder.
- Place the butter and sugar into a deep mixing bowl (tabletop mixer is great) and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the milk and vanilla and beat to mix thoroughly.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, adding a tbsp of flour with each one and beat for a minute, until well incorporated, before adding the next one. The flour will stop your batter from curdling.
- Add the flour and mix on the lowest speed until just combined. Don’t over mix.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin. I like to lift the tin and firmly tap the base on a firm surface, to level and pop a few bubbles.
- Bake for 1 hour. Insert a skewer in the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, it’s done.
- Let cool before taking out.
Hi what does the evaporated milk do the cake ?
Hi Jennie, milk adds moisture, flavour and colour to cakes. It also aids structure and creates tender crumbs. I am partial to evaporated milk because of its creamier nature, like cream. It makes the madeira cake just slightly more flavoursome and soft, then if I’d used fresh milk.
I am making a jack Daniels bottle cake stood up this is my first attempt I need some tips on how to stack the layers and what supports I need also how much ingredients for a Madeira cake in a tin size of 7.5cm depth and 21cm diameter thank you
Hi Dawn, you’ll need the recipe for an 8″ cake, which is the recipe given in the recipe card.
As far as tips go in stacking up the cake: I assume you are planning to cut little squares out of the cake and stacking them up that way? I’m not sure that i cake is going to be enough. My advice is to get a square cake tin that’s about 20cm – 25cm square. That way, you can just cut the cake up into 4 quarters and stack them up that way. If 3 layers are tall enough, you can use the final square to make the thinner top. Or the top can be made completely with fondant icing, hardened with a little tragacanth gum.
Standing the cake up, and making it steady:
1. Place some buttercream icing on the cake board to hold the cake in place.
2. Since your cake is going to be the size of a bottle, it doesn’t need dowelling, but I would suggest pushing through 4 long wooden skewers in the 4 corners, to keep it steady. Barbecue skewers should do, or tin dowelling sticks.
I hope that helps, and good luck.
I have been looking for a recipe for a cake using 7 inch round tin which is about 3 inches deep …..Just wondered why you use plain flour and not self raising ….As most recipes I have found use self raising flour. Would prefer a Victoria Sponge type cake….is this suitable for a childs birthday cake and if so what quantities woukd I need …..thank you
Hi Christine, to convert the above recipe for your 7″ round tin, just divide all the ingredients by 1 and a quarter (1.25) and bake for about 50 minutes.
I grew up making this cake with my granny, and she always used plain flour. Interestingly, many, if not most of the older recipes call for plain flour, going back to Eliza Acton’s very first recipe and mention of it in the mid 19th century. The self-raising flour is, I believe, a fairly modern switch.
I find that the plain flour gives me a better density and allows me to control the rise of the cake with the baking powder.
It is perfect for all birthday cakes, this is the cake I have been using all these years for my kids and all clients who want a decorated cake. The cake is heavier than a Victoria Sponge, making it perfect for decorating, as it will last for days, unlike the drier Victoria.
BBC Good Food have a good recipe for Victoria Sponge: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1997/classic-victoria-sandwich
It’s for an 8″/20cm cake, so again, just divide all your ingredients by 1 1/4.
I hope that helps.
Hi can you please help me with the ingredients for a Madeira cake for a round 14in x 12 1/4in x 3in cake tin.
Also do I need to use self raising and plain flour as some recipes state. Thank you Debbie
I’m not sure if those measurements are right that you’ve quoted, Debbie. Do you mean a rectangular cake with those measurements? Or do you mean that’s the total height of your tiered cake?
Hi ,
please could you help me , i need to know the ingredients need for a maderia cake using a 8″x 12″ x 4″ deep tin
Hi Carole, you’ll need the measurements and time for an 11″ round cake, as given above:
11″/28cm – x 2 bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes
So, multiply all the ingredients by 2 and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.
Hi, thanks for recipes. I need to bake 8′ and using both flavours vanilla and lemon. Is it possible?
Hi Emmy, using vanilla and lemon in the cake together will definitely work. Add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice to the batter, along with the vanilla. You can also use lemon and vanilla buttercream to ice it.
Hello, thank you for such helpful tips and a lovely recipe. I bake for family and have been asked to make a 3 tier semi naked wedding cake. The tiers need to be deep. Please could you tell me how deep your cake recipe should be. Many thanks
Hi Phyllis, the recipe here will give cakes with a depth of about 3 inches before filling in the middle. I hope that helps. You can always use 2 cakes for each tier to get really deep tiers. x
I need to make 3 chocolate madeira cakes to stack up to make one tier of a wedding cake. Each layer needs to be 3cm deep and 25cm in diameter.
Do you have a suggestion for quantities of ingredients I need to use and baking times?
Hi Julie, when I need a chocolate madeira cake, I use the above recipe, but substitute a little of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder.
A 25cm tin will be a 10″ tin, so that’s 1.5 x the recipe for the standard 8″ tin above. Converted recipe below, with the cocoa powder added. Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes.
330g salted butter
330g sugar
315g plain flour
60g unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp evaporated milk
6 large eggs
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp vanilla paste
That’s a pretty big first tier, 3 cakes on top of each other? Don’t forget to use dowels to support the cakes. Sorry if you know that already!
You’ll find links to icing recipes, dowelling cakes, etc on the Cake Decorating 101 page: https://linsfood.com/cake-decorating/
I hope that helps. x
Hi Azlin. Want to make a Madeira cake in a 25cm square tin. What measure of ingredients will I need and baking temp and time. Thanks in advance Sandi.
Hi Sandi,
25cm=10″ (rounded up)
10″ square tin will have the same measurements as an 11″ round tin.
Multiply the recipe by 2 and bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes.
If your oven runs hot, I’d check at the 1 hour 10 minute mark.
Thanks very much for prompt reply. Will let you know how I get on.
A pleasure. x
Hi Azlin. The last recipe for 10″ worked out perfectly. Now I am being asked to bake one in a 12″ square tin. What will ingredient quantities be for this. Wish to slice and fill it with butter cream and jam. Thanks in advance x
I love madeira cake, you’ve given some great tips too, thanks so much!
Thank you Emily.
Wow this is such a fun cake! I just love Madeira! I bet this is really delicious!
It certainly is!