I’ve always thought that those who live in consistently hot climates must simply never bake. A friend, who is a great baker of cakes, lives in Granada, Spain and I once asked her how she managed to bake anything when it was so hot that turning on the oven felt like punishment. ‘I bake at 2am,’ she said, ‘when it’s cooler.’

I’ve been thinking of her this week, since after nearly two months of really good hot dry weather in London, the appeal of salads and gazpacho is sometimes waning and cooked things, and cake, have suddenly seemed a tad more attractive. But not so attractive that I want to spend ages by a preheating oven which is why this is a fab recipe: it has three steps and uses easy-to-get or storecupboard ingredients.

You mix everything together in a mixer or food-processor (or, if you’re very fit, you could use a wooden spoon or a hand-mixer), then put half the mixture in a tin, cover with raspberries, then put the other half in. Add flaked almonds, bake, then try and find somewhere cool for it to cool…!

Raspberry Bakewell cake (adapted from BBC Good Food)

Cupboard (or things you may already have)
butter, 140g
self-raising flour, 140g (or 140g plain flour mixed with a teaspoon of baking powder)
caster sugar, 14og
eggs, 2

Shopping list
ground almonds, 140g
vanilla extract, 1 tsp
raspberries, 250g
flaked almonds, 2 tbsp

How to
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan-assisted/gas 4 and grease and line a deep, 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

2. Put all the ingredients except the raspberries and almonds into a mixer or food-processor and mix thoroughly.

3. Put half the mixture into the bottom of the cake tin, cover with the raspberries, then cover with the rest of the cake mixture. You might find that you need to spread the second half out with a knife, to ensure that the raspberries are covered. Sprinkle with flaked almonds then bake for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown and a knife comes out without any cake mixture stuck to it (there will obviously be raspberry juice).

4. Leave in the tin for five minutes, then remove to a wire rack and leave to cool.