Each day, cafes across Singapore enjoy a brisk trade from Singaporeans keen to relax with family and friends over coffee and, often, a slice of delicious cake.

Yet, how many realise they can fill their house with the fabulous aroma of a homemade cake - followed by the satisfaction of eating a slice that tastes better than most factory-made versions?

I have fond childhood memories of the smell of freshly baked goodies in our kitchen. My mother was not the world's best cook, but she really knew how to bake. Bread, cakes, biscuits and puddings were her speciality.

Thanks to her, I learnt that it is easy and fun. Depending on how fancy you want the result to be, it takes around 20 minutes of preparation plus baking time.

Some may ask how homemade cakes fit into a column about wholesome cooking.

Well, cakes may not exactly fit the label of health food, but when you are the one to choose what goes inside, you're certain of healthier, more wholesome and better-quality ingredients.

A word about ingredients: Choose unsalted butter. You will not notice any difference in flavour and that extra bit of salt is best left out of the diet. Substitute some ground almond meal for some of the flour, adding moistness and texture.

It also reduces the carbohydrate although it may add a little fat - but none of the dreaded trans fat you may be getting in a bakery-made cake.

Adding fruit like blueberries, nuts or chocolate turns a basic cake mixture into one of those luscious-looking cakes seen in cafes and cake shops - although it can mean experimenting with and extending the cooking time.

A good baking philosophy is to keep things as simple as possible.

For a start, try an easy cake that's also wholesome and unusual. Mystify your family by first boiling whole oranges and pureeing them in a blender - the peel included.

Then it's simply a matter of mixing in the eggs and dry ingredients. It may sound strange but family, friends and colleagues say it's delicious.

This recipe for orange cake contains no butter so you can feel a little virtuous that there's less fat content.

Orange cake

Ingredients

• 3 medium-size oranges
• 230g sugar
• 6 eggs
• 140g cake flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 1 heaped tsp baking powder

Method

Wash the oranges before boiling them whole for around 20 minutes. When cool, puree them in a blender, orange peel and all.

Beat the eggs and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold this into the beaten egg mixture along with the ground almonds. Gently mix in the blended oranges.

Pour into a lightly greased cake tin and bake in oven for about one hour at a temperature of 180degC.

Test whether the cake is cooked by inserting a knife or skewer - if wet cake mixture clings to the skewer, then bake a little longer.

Dust top with icing sugar and serve.

Cynthia Low's Orange Cake