Madeira cake

Even though it remains unclear exactly how long this traditional English sponge cake has been around for, one of the earliest known recipes for Madeira cake was found in Elizabeth Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families, published in 1845. Back then, it was a custom to serve the cake with the famous Portuguese Madeira wine, hence the name. Today, the crumbly, lemon-flavored Madeira cake is a popular teatime dessert that is most often served dusted with icing sugar and topped with candied orange peel.