Madeira cake with yogurt is a delicious adaptation of the original Madeira cake which is coincidently English. Madeira cake gets its name after the sweet wine which was used to accompany the cake after a meal in England, during the nineteenth century. Nowadays however, a nice cup of tea coupled with the Madeira cake seems to go down equally as well.

Madeira cake is an ideal cake to use for wedding cakes (an alternative to the standard fruit cake) and party/novelty cakes. The texture of the cake is firmer than the a traditional sponge cake in as much as it lends itself to be shaped and carved more easily; also when it comes to the sugar paste icing and filling it becomes better to handle.

This recipe makes for an unbelievable scrumptious cake and once tasted you will be making it ad infinitum.

INGREDIENTS ~

6ozs/160g soft margarine (don't use butter it doesn't work the same as the margarine)

7ozs/190g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (not vanilla essence)

3 large eggs, separated

8ozs/225g SR flour

1x150g tub of natural Greek yogurt

Heat oven to 325F/170C/Gas 3. Grease a 7"/180cm cake tin; line the base with a disc of greaseproof paper.

METHOD ~

Cream the margarine with the sugar and vanilla extract and beat in the eggs yolks. Mentally divide the flour and the yogurt into three batches and mix them alternatively into the creamed mixture until well combined.

Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.

First to loosen the creamed mixture, add a dollop of the egg white to it and mix in; then using a metal spoon and a figure of eight motion gently fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Turn the mixture into the tin and bake in the center of the oven for 1hour to 1 1/4 hours; to test if it's ready, a knife inserted in the center of the cake should come out cleanly.

If necessary cover the cake with foil after 45 minutes in order to prevent the cake from becoming too brown. The cake will rise in the middle and may crack but not to worry, this is what is expected; it will also sink a little on cooling.

Serve sprinkled with caster sugar on the top.

This cake can be frozen or kept up to a week in a tin. A good tip if you are not eating all the cake in one go is to eat half and freeze half.

Learn more about this author, Ann C Evans.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Recipes: Yogurt cake?
We want to hear your view. Write now!