A light and tasty cake defiant of Autumn rains, guaranteed to put a smile on faces no matter what the weather.

The trick to a successful lemon drizzle cake is to apply the lemon glaze while the cake is still warm to make sure the liquid sinks in well.

Cake ingredients:

• 225g softened butter or good quality vegetable spread containing at least 70% fat
• 225g caster sugar
• 275g self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons of milk
• Grated zest of 2 lemons

For the lemon glaze:

• Juice of 2 lemons
• 175g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 30x23x4cm tray bake tin.

Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs milk and grated lemon zest for a couple of minutes until well combined, but avoid over mixing.

Pour the batter into the baking tin and even out the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

The cake is cooked when the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Loosen the edges of the cake carefully by running a knife around the tin, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Make the lemon glaze by mixing the lemon juice and icing sugar and pour over the top of the cake while still warm so the glaze sinks in.

Leave to cool completely before cutting into 16 pieces.

Tip: Lemons release their juice far better if they are warm, so halve them and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave before squeezing.