Madeira Cake: Recipe with Lemon Mascarpone Glaze

I hope to make you fall in love today with this cake! The Madeira cake (also known as Madeira cake, pastel de madeira or madeira sponge cake), is a classic British-style cake, and while at first glance it may seem like the classic lemon cake, it is a cake with a spongy and soft texture, moist, and combined with the rich lemon aroma it has become a classic and one of my favorite cakes.

In the recipe we present today, we show you how to make it filled with redcurrant jam and a layer of mascarpone cheese with a hint of lemon delicious and very easy to make. Are you up for it?

Madeira cake is famous for its dense and firm texture, which makes it an ideal base for decorated cakes and multi-layer tarts. Yes, it is a cake widely used for decorated baking.

Those texture peculiarities make it really interesting, and it is popular not only in English cuisine, but it has become popular worldwide with great success.

Things you should know about this Madeira cake recipe

• We prepared it rectangular, but you can make it in a round pan if you prefer.
• We only split it into two layers, but you can make two cuts if you prefer (you will need to increase the amount of filling, though).
• Today we fill and decorate it, but it’s a cake you can make on its own. It’s delicious!
• If you decide to fill it, you can choose other jams, such as apricot or strawberry. There are many that pair wonderfully with the lemon touch.

Ingredients

For the lemon Madeira cake:

• 250 g softened butter (room temperature)
• 175 g sugar
• 10 g vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs (M)
• Zest of 1 lemon (without the white part)
• 150 g wheat flour
• 125 g cornstarch (Maizena)
• 1 level tsp baking powder

For the Mascarpone filling and topping:

• 400 g mascarpone cheese
• 60 g sugar
• 6 tbsp lemon juice
• 150 g redcurrant jam

For decoration:

• 50–100 g redcurrants
• 6 edible flowers (for example, daisies)
• 1 tbsp white pearl sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C (fan 150 °C). Grease the rectangular baking pan with butter (today we used the Kaiser pan, otherwise you can use the Le Creuset nonstick 23 cm).
2. In the KitchenAid bowl for 2 minutes, or in a large bowl with a handheld whisk for 5 minutes, mix the cake ingredients: beat the butter, the sugar, the vanilla sugar and the salt.
3. Add the eggs one by one, mixing for about ½ minute each. Incorporate the lemon zest.
4. Now add the dry ingredients: Sift the flour, the cornstarch and the baking powder, and add them in two additions to the butter mixture, beating briefly until you have a smooth, lump-free batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake in the middle rack for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 1 hour.
6. If necessary, loosen the cake edges from the pan with a skewer or plastic knife (so as not to damage the pan) and remove the cake from the pan. Turn the cake onto a plate, cover with cling film and let rest for at least 8 hours (this resting is very important for Madeira cake).

Prepare the filling and finishing:

1. On one side, mix the Mascarpone cheese, the sugar and the lemon juice well.
2. On the other hand, if the jam is very thick, put the jam in a bowl, add a few drops of water and heat in the microwave for a few seconds. Stir with a spoon; you’ll see it becomes liquid and spreadable.
3. With a good knife, cut the cake horizontally in half to obtain two layers.
4. Spread a little more than 1/8 of the mascarpone mixture over the bottom half of the cake. Stir the redcurrant jam well and add small amounts over the mascarpone layer, across the entire surface.
5. Cover by placing the top half of the cake on top, pressing lightly.
6. Spread the rest of the mascarpone mixture over the cake to give a light curtain effect around (as you can see in the photo). Spread a generous amount on the top.
7. Refrigerate and chill for at least 3 hours to allow the topping to set. Also, this chilling is important because it will help the cake be firmer when cutting and prevent the layers from falling apart.
8. Decorate (optional): Wash and drain the redcurrants. For a frosted appearance, freeze the redcurrants (if they were not already frozen) on a plate lined with baking paper for 15 to 30 minutes. Decorate with redcurrants, edible flowers and pearl sugar just before serving.