Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line with circles of parchment paper.

Step 2

Sift together the flour, baking powder being sure it is free of lumps and aerated. Set aside.

Step 3

Chop the almonds by hand or with a small food processor until fine crumbs.

Step 4

In an electric mixer, whip egg whites until stiff. Set aside. Using an electric mixer and a different bowl, combine sugar, butter and vanilla and beat on medium high for 4 minutes until it is light a fluffy, scraping down sides of the bowl once or twice.

Step 5

With machine running on medium, gradually add dry ingredients alternately with milk until smooth. Gently fold in the egg whites and the nuts.

Step 6

Spoon batter into the two prepared pans and bake 30 minutes until center of cakes test dry using a toothpick. Remove to a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then turn out of pans onto cooling racks and cool completely.

Step 7

To make the frosting:In a small saucepan, bring sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt to the boil until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Step 8

Place egg whites into bowl of an electric mixer and whip until foamy. With machine running, add the sugar syrup to the egg whites in a gradual stream and continue to beat until very glossy and stiff peaks form, for 7 minutes.

Step 9

Add vanilla and beat for 1 additional minute.

Step 10

Frost layers and sides of the cake with about 2/3 of the frosting, then swirl the remainder on top. Decorate with the toasted almonds.