There is so much uncertainty in the world at the moment, but always I can return to the certainty of cake. I’ve made the classic flourless orange and almond cake many times, and I love it, but it is certainly not the quickest, what with the two hours cooking time just for the oranges and then more than an hour for the cake. It’s also usually so moist that it verges on pudding, making it not terribly transportable or long-lasting.

Conversely, to get a properly orange flavoured sturdy butter cake, you need huge quantities of finely grated orange zest, and often syrup as well so it’s not dry – such as the classic orange poppy seed, that I also love.

Sometimes it would be nice however, to get a proper orange flavour from something as quick as a one bowl butter cake. Enter this cake, my sister’s almost instant orange wonder cake – my terminology :). She makes it in her Thermomix, but for those of you, like me, without such a thing, the food processor works fine.

In this cake, the uncooked orange is blended with the other ingredients, adding a lovely, but surprisingly subtle orange flavour. It’s a simple, moist, cake, and certainly worth the 3½ minutes it will take you  to make!

Hannah’s orange cake

• 1 large orange (~200-250g)
• 300g self raising flour
• 200g sugar
• 200g butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• Pearl sugar, slivered almonds or candied peel to top (optional)

Rinse the orange, and roughly chop, removing any pips. Add the orange plus other ingredients to a large food processor, and blitz, scraping the sides a few times, until smooth.

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 23cm round tin with baking paper.

Pour the batter into the tin, and spread evenly. Sprinkle with toppings if you like. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely. Keeps in a container at room temperature for a few days.