Citron Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cup butter
• 1 pint powdered sugar
• 1 quart flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 eggs
• 1 wine glass brandy

Method

1. Heat your oven to 160°C (fan 140°C) and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking parchment.

1. Cream 450g softened butter and 450g powdered sugar together in a large bowl until pale and noticeably fluffy, at least 5 minutes by hand or 3 minutes with a mixer. The colour change tells you when it's ready.

1. Beat the 8 eggs in a separate bowl to break them up. Add to the butter mixture a little at a time, beating well between each addition to prevent splitting. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a tablespoon of flour and continue.

1. Add 120ml brandy and mix until just combined. The batter may look slightly separated at this stage; that's fine.

1. Sift 500g flour with 5g salt. Add to the wet mixture in two or three additions, folding gently with a large spoon or spatula each time. Stop as soon as the flour disappears — overworking builds gluten and toughens the crumb.

1. Pour into the prepared tin and level the top with a spatula.

1. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. The top should be deep golden and a fine crust will form.

1. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. The cake keeps well wrapped for 3-4 days and improves by the second day.