Almond cake may be a simple and humble Italian dessert, but it’s also remarkably versatile and a natural make-ahead dessert.

Do not substitute low-fat or nonfat milk for the whole milk. Blanched almonds are almonds without their skin. Be careful not to overtoast the almonds or the cake will have a dry, crumbly texture. You can substitute 3 cups whole blanched almonds for the slivered; increase their oven toasting time to 11 minutes and their processing time to 30 seconds in step 2.

This recipe was published in our cookbook The Best Make-Ahead Recipe.

If the egg whites to be whipped are not at room temperature, set them in a pan placed in hot tap water and stir them until they are tepid. Coconut is very nice as a variation for this cake. Add 2/3 to 1 cup lightly packed sweetened flaked coconut, lightly chopped, to the batter before folding in the egg whites.

Refer to the illustrations below when layering the batter and streusel in the pan. A fixed-bottom, 10-inch tube pan (with 10-cup capacity) is best for this recipe. Note that the streusel is divided into two parts—one for the inner swirls, one for the topping.

This moist cake gets even better when served with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Almond paste makes the cake a bit sticky, so be sure to coat the wax paper in the pan with cooking spray and dust with flour before spooning in the batter. Combining the almond paste and sugar in a blender or food processor helps incorporate the paste into the batter without lumps. This cake can be made a day in advance; just wrap it in plastic wrap, and store in the fridge.

CALORIES 308(30% from fat); FAT 10.1g (sat 5.9g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 5g; CHOLESTEROL 59mg; CALCIUM 60mg; SODIUM 231mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 2.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.9g

Although you can substitute natural cocoa for Dutch-processed, the cake won’t rise as high. If you don’t have baking spray with flour, mix 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon cocoa into a paste and brush inside the pan.