Rice Flour Madeira Cake

5 from 33 votes

This Gluten-Free Madeira Cake is made with rice flour for an incredibly tender crumb. Spiked with vanilla and lemon this simple buttery loaf cake is made with easy to find ingredients and no weird gums. It’s the perfect slice to accompany your mid-morning cup of tea.

Prep Time15

Cook Time50

Total Time1 5

Course: Cake

Cuisine: British

Servings: people

Calories: 332kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

175 g unsalted butter at room temperature
175 g caster sugar
1 lemon zest only
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs medium
125 g white rice flour
100 g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon caster sugar

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted oven / gas mark 4 and line and grease a 2lb loaf tin.
Cream the butter and sugar with the lemon zest on a high speed in a food mixer for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix until completely incorporated, then add the vanilla extract.
Sieve the rice flour with the ground almonds, baking powder and salt in a separate mixing bowl, then add into the food mixer. Beat until well combined.
Stir in the milk to lighten the batter then pour into the loaf tin.
Bake for 50 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave to settle for 5 minutes in its tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack and sprinkle with the extra caster sugar.
Leave to cool completely before serving.

Video

Notes

Rice Flour. You can substitute for an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend like Doves Farm Plain White Gluten-Free Flour.

Ground Almonds. This recipe calls for blanched and ground whole almonds (without their skin). In the UK this kind of flour is sold in most major UK supermarkets labelled 'ground almonds' in the baking aisle but it's also known as almond flour. To make sure you know which almond flour you are choosing then check against this article The Difference Between The Almond Flours.

You can substitute the ground almonds for sunflower seed flour.

Cake Tin. This recipe uses a 2lb loaf tin but you could bake the cake in an 8 inch round cake tin with 4” sides if you prefer.

Creaming. Beat the butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes so that the sugar dissolves into the butter. The ingredients will change colour to a pale yellow and become fluffy in texture. It is essential the butter is at room temperature to achieve this which will result in a light airy cake.

Sifting. It’s important to sift the ground almonds in with the rice flour as the almonds have a tendency to clump.

Caster sugar. The final sprinkle of caster sugar is essential for a lovely texture contrast. Sprinkle over whilst the cake is still warm so it doesn’t immediately fall off the sides.

How to store. Store the Madeira Cake in an airtight tin in a cool dark place for up to 5 days.

How to freeze. Wrap up well though in a double layer of cling film and aluminium foil to ward off any freezer burn. Defrost completely overnight before wrapping and serving.

US customary measurements: These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups

Nutrition information: Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.

The nutrition serving is for 1 slice of Madeira Cake.

Nutrition