{"id":1982,"slug":"madeira-honey-cake","title":"Madeira Honey Cake","description":"This is the recipe for the traditional Madeira Honey Cake, usually made on Christmas but also all year round on the island of Madeira and originally named in Portuguese bolo de mel. It is made with \"mel de cana\" which literally means \"cane honey,\" otherwise known as molasses.","ingredients_raw":["9 ounces (250 g) Bread dough from the baker's shop","5 tablespoons (69 g) Baking soda, dissolved in the wine","1 cup (240 g) Madeira wine","1.8 L (92 ounces (2560 g)) Molasses","27 ounces (750 g) Pork fat","18 ounces (500 g) Butter","90 ounces (2500 g) Flour","36 ounces (1000 g) White granulated sugar","1.8 ounces (50 g) Candied lemon peel, cut into cubes","0.9 ounce (25 g) Erva-doce (anise, ground and sifted)","1.8 ounces (50 g) Cinnamon","0.9 ounce (25 g) Ground cloves","18 ounces (500 g) Walnuts, cut into halves","9 ounces (250 g) Ground almonds","392 g Oranges, juiced and zested"],"ingredients_norm":["bread dough from the baker's shop","baking soda dissolved in the wine","madeira wine","molasses","pork fat","butter","flour","white granulated sugar","candied lemon peel","erva doce","cinnamon","ground clove","walnut","ground almond","oranges juiced and zested"],"steps":["One day before making the cake, buy the bread-dough at the baker's shop, sprinkle a little bit of flour on the dough, put it in a towel and keep it in a warm place until the next day.","Dissolve the baking soda into the Madeira wine.","Warm the molasses in a saucepan, add the butter and pork fat, and stir until melted and combined. Let this mixture cool.","Sift flour into a bowl, and mix in the sugar. Make a well and put the bread dough into it.","Work the flour-sugar mixture into the bread dough. As soon as this is well-joined, start to incorporate the molasses-fat mixture little by little.","Add some of the candied lemon peel, as well as the Madeira wine, orange juice and orange zest, anise, cinnamon, and cloves. Incorporate and knead thoroughly until the dough doesn't stick to the bowl.","Cover the dough with a towel and put it in a warm spot. Keep it in a warm place for 3–4 days.","Grease the baking pans. This cake is traditionally made in wide, round, low pans.","Divide the dough into parts of 250–500 g or 750 g, depending on your baking pans.","Decorate the cake with half-walnuts, sliced almonds, and the rest of the candied lemon peel.","Bake for about 50 minutes at 355 °F (180 °C). Let cool down before taking it out of the baking pan."],"categories":["Recipes for dessert","Recipes for cake","Portuguese recipes","Christmas recipes","Recipes using molasses","Baking recipes","Recipes using walnut","Recipes using almond","Recipes using butter","Recipes using anise","Recipes using baking soda","Recipes using granulated sugar","Recipes using ground cinnamon","Recipes using orange","Recipes using lemon","Recipes using clove","Recipes for bread","Recipes using wheat flour"],"prep_time_minutes":40,"cook_time_minutes":50,"total_time_minutes":5850,"servings":"8","yield_text":null,"difficulty":"hard","source_name":"wikibooks","source_url":"https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Madeira_Honey_Cake","source_ref":"4587247","authors_url":"https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cookbook:Madeira_Honey_Cake&action=history","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","extraction_confidence":null,"content_hash":"d0f16417bce65b27709d87d5d9fa38e8ff5ea3795999c6959a3a15ff25cbabb8","created_at":"2026-08-02T14:43:08Z","updated_at":"2026-08-02T17:11:31Z","notice":null,"url":"https://recipecontextprotocol.com/recipes/madeira-honey-cake"}