Tea-Time Cake

Today we had Jon's parents over to the house and we made French Dip in the crock (which I will post the recipe for soon) and I made Madeira cake, which is a pound cake-like treat with a lemon syrup. The cake was a hit (especially with Jon's dad) so I'm passing along the yummies.



Looks good doesn't it? See how the side though the glass looks kinda wet and sticky? That's the glaze you pour over and into it.

1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

For sugary crust/filling stuff

4 tbsp lemon juice ( I again used my squeezing power for this but you can use a juicer if you are high-tech or just the lemon juice you buy at the store)
1 tbsp light corn syrup (i used regular because stown doesn't have much to offer in the light department)
2 tbsp granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease a 1.5 quart loaf tin (as you can see I used a glass pyrex..so use whatever you have)
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy, then gradually beat in the eggs ( I like to crack the eggs into a separate bowl and pre-beat them before adding them to any mixture, makes it easy to catch stray shell pieces)
4. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt and fold in gently (ok I started freaking at this point because the mixture became very dense and it was impossible to simply "fold it gently" and it was all bumpy, but this is normal, just mix as best you can until all the flour is mixed in and have faith)
5. Spoon into the tin and level the top, bake 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean (note this loaf cannot be pierced all the way to the bottom with a toothpick, its just too deep, so I used a knife because I don't have a kebab skewer or anything like that)
6. Remove cake and while it's still warm pierce it all over with the skewer (or knife) all the way to the bottom. Do this a lot...all over...really.
7. Warm together the lemon juice and syrup, then add the sugar and spoon over the cake right away. Make sure you get a lot down the sides and into the holes. You will really soak this into the cake as much as possible.
8. Chill for several hours or overnight and then serve..with tea or without! You can also make a clotted cream to go with this or just some butter, up to you. Enjoy!