Amazing almond cake...with a dash of rum if you desire

A few weeks ago I was invited to dinner at a friend's house here in Cairo. He was making Indian and Pakistani style food, and I told him I would bring dessert. Having converted to a low impact, mostly grain-free, sugar-free way of eating after the New Year (with a few slip-ups here and there), I racked my brain and my cookbooks for inspiration. Suzanne Pirret, in her book "The Pleasure is All Mine" had a lovely recipe, called "Cake" which seduced me by its simplicity (and possibly also by her witty writing). Her recipe used grams which I converted into cups for the American kitchen, although I personally like using a small kitchen scale and measuring ingredients in grams.