Food glossary

Madeira cake

Madeira cake

A rich sweet and buttery sponge cake flavoured with lemon zest, Madeira cake is usually a rectangular or small loaf shape. It was often served with sweet wines, especially Madeira, in the 19th century (this accounts for its name) but is now more often served with afternoon tea. Waitrose sell Madeira Cake and Iced Lemon Madeira Cake which has a layer of lemon flavoured buttercream and lemon curd and is topped with lemon flavour icing.

Uses: Slice and serve for afternoon tea or picnics or add to lunchboxes. It can also be used in a selection of recipes: slice and use in the base of a trifle, use as the base for baked Alaska or crush the cake into crumbs and use in home-made truffles or sprinkle over ice cream sundaes.

To store: Keep in a cool, dry place. Once opened store in an airtight container and eat by the best before date.