Zingy citrus Madeira cake

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180C/165C Fan/Gas Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin with butter and line with baking parchment.

Step 2

In a bowl, cream the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Fold in the flour, a pinch of salt and the citrus zests.

Step 3

Pour the batter into the prepared tin, smooth the surface and bake for 1 hour. Check the cake after 40 minutes, if it is starting to brown too much cover with aluminium foil for the remaining cooking time. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Step 4

Leave the cake to cool in the tin while you make the sugar syrup.

Step 5

To decorate, cut the lemon and orange rind into very thin strips. Add 100ml/3½fl oz water and the caster sugar to a saucepan over a low heat, stir gently until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil then add the rind to the pan, reserve a few strips of rind for decoration. Cook for about 5 minutes until a syrup forms and the rind is translucent.

Step 6

Brush the syrup over the still-warm cake and set aside to cool completely. When the cake is completely cold, remove it from the tin.

Step 7

To make the icing, mix the citrus juices. Mix the icing sugar with enough juice to make a thin icing. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake and finish with a few thin strips of citrus rind.