Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF/Gas 4).

Using a pastry brush, grease a 23 cm (9 in) cake tin with melted butter (you can use a bundt or a standard round tin).

Put all the remaining cake ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth batter. (If you do not have a blender you can whisk everything together by hand in a mixing bowl using a balloon whisk, starting with the ricotta and then the oil to make sure there are no lumps in the ricotta.)

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it out evenly.

Bake until risen and golden, 40–45 minutes. Insert a skewer or spaghetti strand to check it’s done.

Allow the cake to cool while you make the syrup. Melt the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and simmer for a few minutes until syrupy. Pour the syrup over the cake and leave to cool completely before turning it out onto a serving plate (you can poke holes in the cake before pouring over the syrup to make absorption faster).

Put the icing sugar in a bowl. Add 30 ml (2 tbsp) of the lemon juice and mix thoroughly, adding more juice depending on your desired texture.

If you want a thinner, translucent glaze that soaks into the cake more, add another teaspoon of lemon juice, and continue to add juice to make it as runny as you wish. This will provide more of a general shine rather than a defined icing. You can tinker with it as you see fit – there are truly 50 shades of glaze.