About a zillion years ago, when I was a teenager, I did a lot of cooking with my Dad. He took up cooking in his 40s, I think because (bless her) my mother wasn’t the best of cooks. She could whip up the basic meat and three vege combination and she could do a very good mac and cheese. But Dad was by far the better cook. I still have very fond memories of his Vienna Schnitzel with hot potato salad. We would cook together on the weekends. Because he preferred to do main courses, I would do the dessert or cakes and I think this is why I still prefer baking biscuits or preparing luscious desserts.

The two things I vividly recall baking are pineapple upside down cake and an orange almond cake with heaps of icing on it. I used to love the latter and I found my handwritten recipe. Lord knows where the recipe comes from. I had a habit of cruising magazines and writing down recipes. I’d often change a recipe or twig it slightly so this is probably not the original recipe but a version of it. But I decided to make it a few weeks ago and the moment I tasted it, I was taken back to when I was 17 or 18 years old. This cake is only for those who looooooooooooove lots of icing.

Lots of orange icing and toasted almonds make this a pretty decadent cake.

125 g butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

grated rind of one orange

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup self-raising flour, seived

1 tablespoon milk

Grease two 18cm tins and line bases with a circle of greased greaseproof paper. Whack the sugar, butter and orange rind into a bowl and beat until mixture is pale and creamy. Beat in the egg a little at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour with the last amount of egg to prevent curdling. Fold in the rest of the flour and enough milk to make the mixture a soft dropping consistency. Divide mixture between the tins and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes or until cake is cooked (your test is if the cake springs back when you lightly press in the centre with a finger). Cool cake on wire rack.

Meanwhile, get about 6 tablespoons of slivered almonds and lightly toast. Do this slowly because burnt almonds can taste pretty bitter. Now prepare the icing – for this you will need:

155 g butter

2 cups icing sugar, sieved

1 tablespoon orange juice

Cream butter until it is soft, then beat in icing sugar and orange juice. Assemble the cake by sandwiching the cakes together with about one third of the icing. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. Scatter toasted almonds over top and sides.