Meghan Markle poses for a photograph.

Meghan Markle thanked a group of women who have been helping provide meals in Chicago amid the pandemic with a homemade olive oil lemon cake.

The Duchess of Sussex baked the cake, which was made with lemons from the garden at her Montecito home, for a lunch in celebration of Women’s History Month and to thank those who have been distributing meals.

 World Central Kitchen staff poses with the cake. 

World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit founded by chef José Andrés, shared a photo of the cake on social media, where the organisation wrote: “In honour of #WomensHistoryMonth, WCK worked with Archewell, the non-profit created by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to provide meals & share a message of appreciation & support in Chicago.

“Dessert was a lemon olive oil cake baked by the Duchess - with lemons from her garden!”

In a letter to the women shared along with the cake, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wrote: “We hope you enjoy the offering we baked for you - a small token of thanks, from our home to yours.

“Our hope with this effort is to show that, when we all participate, even the smallest actions can have a ripple effect. Even individual actions can impact the whole of us.”

In a follow-up post, WCK said that, since its Covid-19 response began in Chicago, it has served nearly 500,000 meals, with the organisation acknowledging the help from “YWCA Metropolitan Chicago - which has distributed 60,000 meals with WCK,” and Sarah Weitz, the co-owner of Fat Shallot restaurant, before honouring all that women do to “serve their communities”.

“Women are on the frontlines of our work: making & serving meals, volunteering, and leading businesses & organisations that serve their communities each day,” WCK said.

Under the post, Weitz said that the cake made by the duchess was “delicious”.

This is also not the first time the duchess has shared a homemade baked good, as Meghan previously brought homemade banana bread to a family-run farm during her and Prince Harry’s 2018 visit to Australia.