1. Preheat the oven to 180c (150c Fan) / Gas 4. Brush and line your (8 inch) cake tin or (8 x 21cm) loaf tin very lightly with melted butter (careful not to over grease your tin base). Sieve your flour, with the baking powder into a large wide bowl from a height and repeat twice to incorporate more air into the mix before setting aside.

2. Cream the butter very well with an electric hand whisk until very light and creamy, before gradually adding in the caster sugar in stages to form a pale and creamy texture. Add in the eggs one at a time, adding 1 tbsp of flour with each addition to prevent the mixture from curdling.

3. Fold in your vanilla extract, lemon zest and the juice of one lemon. Gently fold in the sieved flour and pour the mixture into your loaf tin or cake tin. Smooth the surface of the mixture and place in the oven for 40 - 45 mins. Test the cake to see if it is fully baked by placing a skewer in the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is fully baked. 

4. While the cake is baking, juice two lemons over a sieve and place the juice in a saucepan with the caster sugar. A few minutes before the cake is baked, place the lemon juice and sugar over a medium heat and make a hot syrup. Take the cake out of the oven, pierce the cake with the skewer all over and then pour the syrup over the cake allowing the cake to soak up all the lemon syrup. Set aside for a number of hours before icing, there is no problem leaving the cake there over night in the tin.

5. Once the cake is completely cool, remove it from the tin and place it on a cake stand or clean board. Mix the sieved lemon juice with the icing sugar (to form a texture similar to the consistency of paint). Then simply pour over the centre of the cake and allow it to drizzle down the sides by itself. (Tip: If you are using a round cake tin, sit the cake on a jam jar resting on a clean chopping board).