Lemon vanilla pound cake

■ Serves 8-10 ■ Prep 45 mins ■ Cook 1 hr

225g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin

3 lemons, zested

120ml soured cream

190g plain flour

30g cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

285g golden caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

3 eggs, plus 2 yolks, at room temperature

FOR THE ICING

150g icing sugar, sifted

2 tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp vanilla bean paste edible flowers (such as violets and marigolds – if in doubt about whether a flower is edible, don’t use it), to serve

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line a 900g loaf tin.

2 Mix the lemon zest with the soured cream and set aside. Whisk together the plain flour, cornflour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a bowl and set aside.

3 Cream together the butter, caster sugar and vanilla with an electric whisk for 5 mins, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go, until pale yellow and light and creamy.

4 Use a fork to lightly whisk together the 3 whole eggs and 2 yolks in a jug then, with the beaters running, pour the egg mixture into the creamed butter, a few tbsp at a time, waiting until it’s fully incorporated before adding any more – if you add the eggs too quickly, the mix will curdle.

5 Sift over ⅓ of the flour, folding gently with a silicone spatula, until you can see no floury bits. Add half of the zesty soured cream and gently fold to combine. Repeat this process, finishing with the final ⅓ of the flour.

6 Dollop the cake batter into the lined tin, smoothing the top level with a pallet knife or the back of a spoon.

7 Bake for 55-65 mins or until a skewer gently inserted into the middle comes out clean. If in doubt, always leave it another few minutes. Allow the cake to cool in its tin for 10-15 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

8 To make the icing, mix together the sifted icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla bean paste in a small bowl until smooth. Pour into the centre of the cake and, using a palette knife or the back of a spoon, smooth over the top, encouraging some drips to fall down the sides. Leave plain or decorate with flowers.

PER SERVING (10) 489 kcals, fat 24g saturates 14g, carbs 62g, sugars 44g, fibre 1g, protein 5g, salt 0.2g