Madeira cake

Madeira cake is a sponge or butter cake in traditional British and Irish cookery. It is sometimes mistakenly thought to originate from the Madeira Islands but was in fact named after Madeira wine from the islands, popular in England in the mid-1800s and often served with the cake. Madeirans produce their own traditional cake – bolo de mel, dark, spicy and honey flavoured – which is very different. The cake has a firm yet light texture. It is eaten with tea or for breakfast and is traditionally flavoured with lemon. Nowadays, the English Madeira cake is often served with tea or liqueurs. Dating back to an original recipe in the 18th or 19th century, Madeira cake is similar to a pound cake or yellow cake. One of the earliest published recipes was by Eliza Acton in her Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845):

Source: Wikipedia