Green tea drizzle cake

Green tea drizzle cake Method 1. For the cake: preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

Sift the flour, green tea powder (if using) and baking powder into a bowl. Gently melt the butter and set aside to cool.

Put the sugar and eggs in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Using an electric whisk, beat the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture trebles in volume, lightens in colour and is the consistency of lightly whipped cream. Set the electric whisk aside.

Add the sifted flour mixture, drizzle the melted butter down the side of the bowl and gently fold until incorporated. The mixture should not be beaten or over-worked at this stage.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake is golden, firm to touch and coming away from the side of the tin. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes.

For the green tea syrup: stir the green tea into the boiling water and leave to stand for 2-3 minutes to create a strong infusion.

Strain the tea into a small saucepan, add the sugar and stir over a very low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 5 minutes to give a light syrup.

Remove 3-4 tablespoons of the syrup to a small bowl and set aside to cool. Keep the rest of the syrup warm.

Skewer the top of the cake all over and drizzle the warm syrup slowly and evenly over it. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

. Mix the cooled reserved syrup with the crème fraîche, then cover and chill until ready to serve.

. Remove the cake from the tin and peel away the greaseproof paper. Serve in slices with a dollop of the green-tea-spiked crème fraîche.