Candice Brown’s lemon and blackberry drizzle cake

Adding blackberries whole means you get a burst of juice when you take a bite – tart but sweet perfection.

SERVES EIGHT TO 10 INGREDIENTS

115g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

115g unsalted butter, softened 165g golden caster sugar 2 medium eggs

3 lemons

1 tsp fresh lemon thyme leaves 150g blackberries

To finish

About 50g icing sugar 10 blackberries Shreds of lemon zest Fresh lemon thyme sprigs

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Grease a 450g loaf tin. Line it with greaseproof paper.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add the soft butter and 115g of the caster sugar, along with the eggs. Grate the zest from two of the lemons into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from half of the third lemon and add, along with the lemon thyme leaves. Beat until smooth and light (take care not to over-mix). Fold in the blackberries.

Pour the mixture into the tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean (avoid skewering a blackberry). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly while you make the syrup.

Squeeze the juice from the two zested lemons and pour into a small saucepan. Add the remaining 50g sugar. Set over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and made a syrup. Turn the heat up slightly and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.

Using a skewer, poke holes all over the top of the still-warm cake, then slowly pour the syrup over the surface so it penetrates the sponge. Leave to cool.

Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half into a small bowl and stir in enough icing sugar to make a smooth, runny icing.

Once the loaf is cold, drizzle over the icing and top with blackberries, shreds of lemon zest and tiny sprigs of lemon thyme.

Recipe from Comfort by Candice Brown (Ebury Press, £20)