Lemon thyme cake

1 Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 5. Melt 15g butter and use to brush the inside of a 26cm Bundt cake tin. Dust the tin with a little four, making sure the surface is well covered. Give the tin one sharp tap face down to get rid of the excess four. Using a pestle and mortar, crush the lemon zest and thyme leaves with 1 tbsp lemon juice; set aside.

2 Using electric beaters, cream the remaining 235g butter with 225g caster sugar until pale and fuffy. Add the eggs one at a time, while mixing, then fold in the four, ground almonds and the crushed thyme mixture. Pour this batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

3 Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat the remaining 50g caster sugar with the juice of 1½ lemons and a few thyme sprigs until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Make some holes in the cake with a skewer and brush the syrup all over (discarding the thyme). In a small bowl, mix the icing sugar with the remaining lemon juice to make a spoonable icing, then drizzle over the cake. Scatter over some extra thyme leaves before serving.