Lemon and Lime Madeira cake recipe

I’ve been wanting to test out this Lemon and Lime Madeira cake recipe for ages. I made it a few years ago for my sister’s charity cake morning but I didn’t measure the ingredients or take photos so when fellow Free Cakes For Kids volunteer Zowie had a Macmillian coffee morning this weekend I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make it again.

It’s a bit of a show stopper as this time I made it three tiers tall and I have finally worked out how to have a decent amount of buttercream between layers without it all squidging out from the sides. I based it on my fave Madeira Cake. You can find other sizes of that here

Lemon and Lime Madeira cake recipe

Cake ingredients

• 170g Butter – at room temperature
• 170g margarine – at room temperature
• 400g caster sugar
• Juice 1 lemon and 1 lime  (3 ½ tbsp cake, 1tbsp sugar syrup and 1 ½ tbsp buttercream)
• Rind of 1 lemon and 1 lime  (½ for the cake, ½ for the buttercream)
• 7 medium eggs- at room temperature
• 510 plain flour
• 3 ½ tsp baking powder
• 7 tbsp water

Sugar syrup ingredients

• 40g caster sugar
• 40ml water
• 1 tbsp lemon & lime juice (taken from original fruit)

Buttercream ingredients

• 450g butter- at room temperature
• 450g sieved icing sugar
• 1 ½ tbsp lemon & lime juice (taken from original fruit)
• Lemon and lime rind

How to make the Lemon and Lime Madeira cake

To make the cake

1. Line three 8″ cake tins with silicon paper and pre heat your oven to

   180ºC (Fan oven160ºC). I use sunflower oil to grease the tins so the cakes stay soft. Butter tends to bake too quickly giving you a harder cake on the outside.

2. Start by creaming the butters together then add the sugar and beat till it’s pale and fluffy.

3. Very slowly add the eggs – a spoonful at a time. Add a spoon of the flour to prevent curdling if necessary.

4. Grate all of the rind from the lemon and the lime then juice them both. Run the juice through a sieve so there are no pips or pith. These will be used for the cake, the buttercream and the sugar syrup so don’t put it all in the cake at once or you’ll end up with a very, very zingy cake! Put 3 ½ tbsp of juice into the cake mix and set the rest aside.

5. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and have the hot water ready. Add the flour and water in three goes. This produces the fluffiest and most moist cake rather than adding all the flour then all the water.

6. Finally fold in half the zests.

7. Spoon into the three cake tins. The mixture should be 565g for each tin – if you want really even cakes.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out of the centre clean.

9. Don’t open the oven door for the first 20 minutes. It will make the cake sink.

10. Place the cakes on a wire to cool.

11. Make the sugar syrup while the cakes are baking.

To make the sugar syrup

1. Place the water and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
2. Simmer until all the sugar has dissolved then add the lemon and lime juice.
3. Set aside and allow to cool.
4. Once the cakes are out of the oven brush over the top of each cake with the sugar syrup. You only need to cover each area once. Don’t be tempted to put too much syrup on or you’ll end up with a soggy mess.
5. Leave the cakes to cool for 15 minutes before turning them out of the tin to go completely cold before you arrange them with buttercream.

To make the buttercream

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. This will take 3-5 minutes. If using a stand mixer you can carefully place a tea towel over the mixer -around the outside of the bowl to prevent the icing sugar being thrown out all over the place. If using a hand held mixer loosely combine the ingredients before whisking. 

2. Make sure the cakes are level by cutting off any domes from the tops

3. Fill a piping bag with a wide nozzle with the buttercream. Pipe dots all around the bottom cake layer then fill the inside. Use a spatula to smooth it a little.

4. Place the next layer on top then repeat with the next layer of buttercream finishing off with the top layer of cake.
5. Place in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes. This encourages the buttercream to harden up a little making it easier to spread buttercream on the outside edges.
6. Use a little of the buttercream to spread a crumb coating on the top and outside edge – filling any gaps between the layers as you go, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. The longer it’s in the fridge the harder the coating will get and the easier it will be to add the next layer. I’ve been leaving the crumb coating a little bit rough (rather than smoothing it completely flat) recently and it’s made adding the outside coating much easier.
7. Once the crumb coating is firm add a thicker outer coating all over the cake. Use a serrated ruler to create a design in the buttercream across the top and then on the sides.
8. Place any decorations on the top (these Daisies were from Poundand) and then chill again for 10-15 minutes.

From what I tasted – I never leave an off-cut uneaten, that’s what buttercream is for isn’t it?  This is one seriously zesty, moist cake.

enjoy!

EmmaMT

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