Sour-cream cake with lavender

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan. Combine the egg yolks, a quarter of the sour cream and the vanilla extract in a bowl, and stir well.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients plus half a teaspoon of salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the softened butter and remaining sour cream, and whisk on low speed for a couple of minutes to aerate. Gradually add the egg-yolk mixture in three stages, beating on high speed for 20 seconds after each addition.
3. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the mixture is well risen and golden brown. Leave the cake to cool in the tin, then invert onto a wire rack to cool.
4. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and add a few drops of warm water to make a soft glacé icing. Remove a few spoonfuls of icing and colour with a few drops of the lavender or grape food colouring.
5. Decorate the cake with the icing and scatter the fresh lavender flowers over the top.