Madeira Honey Cake

Sugarcane Honey cake

The Sugarcane Honey Cake is a traditional cake of the Madeira Archipelago, characterized by a dark color due to the cane honey (or syrup), it  is decorated with almonds and walnuts and is a dense cake with dried fruits and spices, having a cylindrical shape. This cake can be preserved naturally for several months, always keeping its taste as if it were freshly baked. It is typically made during the Christmas season and is therefore almost indispensable in all Madeiran families' homes at this time.

A bit of history of Madeira Honey Cake

It was created in Madeira, initially due to sugar production in the archipelago. Its preparation began in the mid-15th-16th centuries, evolving and changing in the 17th-18th centuries, where in addition to European spices, spices from India and soda also began to be used.

Initially it was made in order to celebrate great religious solemnities and their octaves. The offering of the Sugarcane Honey Cake was a courtesy that became widespread, being nowadays, a custom of the Madeiran population, that every year on December 8th, the day of Immaculate Conception. It is prepared to be consumed at Christmas. It is also tradition to eat the last cakes from the previous year on this day. This cake should be broken by hand and is typically accompanied by various liqueurs or Madeira wine.

In the past, there were two versions of the honey cake, the poor and the rich version. The rich had a variety of nuts, especially walnuts, which not all had access due to lack of economic power.

Madeira Honey Cake Recipe: How to Make Honey Cake - Baking Mode:

The honey cake is one of those cakes that you feel like buying already made, due to the immense work that goes into making it. However, many families have a habit of doing it every year on the 8th, a national holiday. So we will explain all the steps and ingredients you need to do it the best way!

Honey Cake Ingredients

• 2.5 kg flour
• 1kg sugar
• 750 gr lard (if you can't find it, replace it with butter)
• 500 gr butter
• 25 gr fennel
• 50 gr cinnamon
• 12 gr cloves
• 12 gr blackhead clove
• 12gr spice mix
• 2kg walnut (in shell)
• 250 gr almond kernels
• 50 gr lemon
• 2 tbsp baking soda
• 250 gr bread dough
• 1.8 liters Cane Honey
• 1 cup Madeira Wine
• 4 oranges

Honey Cake Preparation:

The day before you make the cake, buy 250 grams of well-fermented bread in a bakery, then wrap it with flour and store in a napkin, preferably in a warm place and let it stand overnight.

The next day, start by gathering all the spices and crush them well in a mortar, cut the almonds, walnuts and the lemon and then dissolve the baking soda in the Madeira Wine.

Apart, melt the lard and butter with the cane honey and add the zest and the orange juice.

In a large bowl, pour the flour and sugar, make a pit in the middle and pour the bread into the dough, knead well until it has a smooth dough and gradually add the mixture of lard, butter, honey and orange, kneading it until ready.

After all the mixture is incorporated, add the dried fruits, the wine with the baking soda and the spices.

Knead well until the dough comes loose from the bowl.

Cover it with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for 3 to 4 days.

After the dough rises, divide it into 6 cakes (if you wish you can divide into more, 6 servings equals medium sized cakes).

Put them in round and low forms, well buttered.

Turn the oven on at 200ºC, let it warm and then put them in for 20 minutes.

Once out of the oven decorate it with walnuts, almonds and pieces of lemon.

Let cool and wrap cakes in parchment paper or wrapping paper and place them in boxes.

There are versions of the honey cake sold differently, not respecting the original recipe. Some use low quality molasses and syrups, or even cocoa to darken the cake and chemical preservatives, to make this cake cheaper. To avoid these situations, the Regional Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources created the brands “Madeira Sugarcane Honey”, “Madeira Sugarcane Honey Cake” and “Madeira Sugarcane Honey Broas”, in order to safeguard their genuineness.