y earliest memories of eating oranges involve my grandparents. On brisk and sunny winter afternoons, my grandparents and I would often sit on our balcony, spread a sheet of newspaper on the floor and sit and eat oranges together. The combination of the cool weather, the sunshine and the zesty, tangy oranges was absolutely delightful.

Orange desserts were not the norm when I was growing up and it wasn’t until I made a chocolate orange layer cake for my mother’s birthday, following a wonderful recipe from Peggy Porshen’s book Boutique Baking, that I truly discovered not just the joy of eating an orange-based dessert but also that chocolate and oranges are a match made in culinary heaven.

That particular cake was quite labour-intensive (as layer cakes tend to be) and, to be completely honest, I don’t always want to go through so much trouble to get a dessert prepared. In fact, ever since I started baking professionally, I find myself using simpler recipes with strong flavours at home.

This recipe is as simple as they come and perhaps the most complicated element (if you want to call it complicated) is separating the whites from the yolks and making a meringue. I imagine this is something that most home bakers can manage rather easily. Additionally, this cake is gluten free, using almond flour in place of all-purpose flour. If you have trouble procuring almond flour, make your own by blanching whole almonds, roasting them lightly in a pan or in the oven, and then grinding them in a food processor.