This is kind of flat cake, good for tea and coffee and for cutting into squares. This is a quantity that doesn’t quite fill the typical square baking pan, for the simple reason that I don’t need that much cake at one time, and I certainly don’t need it when contagion is upon the land and we are trying to spare the butter and especially the eggs. The recipe upon which this is based (thanks, Olivia Potts) uses desiccated coconut and omits the pecans, almond flour, coconut flour, and cornstarch. The vanilla essence I used (paste in Potts’s recipe — what is that?) is homemade: two years ago I put a few vanilla pods in vodka et voilá: a nice, slightly boozy, essence. By the way, it doesn’t matter in grams whether it’s all precise. I recorded my ingredient quantities as I went along, and it came out to: 109g sugar, 107g butter, 109g all-purpose flour, and so on. In a recipe like this, easy come, easy go. Precision doesn’t matter. I round the numbers just to make it tidy and nice. Double the quantities as needed.

For the batter:

110g all-purpose flour

110g sugar

110g butter

20g coconut flour

20g almond flour

about 12 pecan halves, finely ground

1 Tbs cornstarch (or cornflour)

2 ¾ tsp baking powder

1 tsp medium-fine sea salt (a bit less if using fine)

For the topping:

About 7 Tbs jam, warmed if need be to allow spreading

About 12 pecan halves, semi-coarsely crushed in a mortar

Bake on middle rack in preheated 325°F oven for 30 minutes until a warm golden colour, or until a gentle finger prod doesn’t leave a depression. Let cool and then spread with the jam and sprinkle all over with the mashed nuts. Store unused portions in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.