lemon Madeira cake with candied peel

Who doesn’t love a lemon cake? Mary shows you how to make her simple all-in-one cake topped with candied lemon peel.

Mary Berry recipes
From The Great British Bake Off

Ingredients

For the candied peel

• 1 unwaxed lemon
• 200g/7oz granulated sugar
• 100g/3½oz caster sugar

For the cake

• 175g/6oz softened butter
• 175g/6oz caster sugar
• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• 50g/1¾oz ground almonds
• 4 large free-range eggs
• 1 large unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only

Method

1. For the candied peel, cut the lemon into 8 wedges, then cut out the flesh, leaving a 5mm thickness of peel and pith. Cut each wedge into 4 strips.

2. Pour 300ml/10fl oz water into a small pan, add the granulated sugar and heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon zest and simmer uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until the lemon peel is soft and translucent.

3. Drain in a wire sieve and leave to cool. Spread the peel out on a baking sheet lined with parchment and sprinkle with caster sugar. Place in the oven on the lowest setting (approximately 110C/90C Fan/Gas ¼) for 1 hour until dry.

4. For the cake, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease a 18cm/7in deep round cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

5. Put the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, eggs and lemon zest into a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat for 1 minute to mix thoroughly. Turn into the prepared tin and level the surface.

6. Bake for 35 minutes. Decorate with 3 pieces of candied peel and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre, comes out clean. leave in the tin for 15 minutes to cool before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Tips

Mary only uses 3 strips of peel on the Madeira cake, but this recipe makes approximately 32 pieces. Any leftover candied peel can be stored in an airtight container and used in another recipe – or dipped in dark chocolate as a treat.