Simplicity is the first word that comes to mind when describing this cake.  It’s basic list of ingredients, along with the ease in which it can be made, makes it an ‘anytime’ cake.  The only ingredient that may not be in your pantry is almond meal, and if not, it is a great staple to have on hand for future baking.  Almond meal is readily available at most markets these days.  Other than that, a couple pieces of fruit and you are on your way to a tender, moist, and sweetly perfumed cake, perfect for anytime of the day.  I love it slightly warm from the oven best, but the following morning with coffee or tea is just as enticing.  A day later, and the cake has reaped all the juicy benefits of sitting below a succulent layer of fruit.
This cake came about through a set of happy coincidences.  My friend Ann spent some time in a farmhouse in Italy this past summer.  As a treat to herself and her husband, she invited a chef to come and prepare a few meals for them.  The woman served them an almond cake for dessert one night and Ann was immediately smitten.  She and I share baking recipes from time to time and we also share similar tastes in desserts.  Ann knew I would love this cake.  The chef was kind enough to jot the recipe down, and Ann returned home on a quest to replicate the cake.  Well…..something was lost in translation and let’s just say that her first results fell far short of the cake she had enjoyed in Italy.  This is where I came in.
Ann told me all about the cake and wondered if I could help her figure out what may have gone wrong.  Right away we both knew that there was too much butter relative to the other ingredients.  I asked her to leave the recipe with me and I would take a swing at it.  The cake she had eaten in Italy was topped with apples but I had pears on hand so that is what I went with.  I futz around with the recipe and right off the bat I eliminated a whole stick of butter.  The chef’s recipe called for Demerara sugar which I changed to granulated sugar simply because the Demerara made the cake too heavy and ‘gritty’.  Traditional or not, I sprinkled in a hint of spice to accentuate the delicate flavor of the fruit.  Finally, I changed the measurements from weight to volume.
Success!  So, in the end, all the way from a little town in Italy to a home in California, from an Italian chef to a baking blogger, a tweak here and a pinch there…..a tender, nutty, deliciously moist and fruity, ‘anytime’ cake was born.