Almond Pound Cake from Montreux

The name of this lovely cake from the Confiserie Zurcher, the best pastry shop in Montreux, on Lake Geneva, means “daisy” and refers more to its delicacy than to its shape. The pastry chef at Zurcher, Max Muller, gave it to me during a recipe-finding trip I made to western Switzerland in 1996. Do try the chocolate version of this cake, listed as a variation at the end of the recipe.