In a large microwave safe bowl, add the heavy cream, milk, and honey. Microwave the mixture for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is steaming hot, and then whisk it to fully incorporate the honey. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours before continuing.

Once the mixture has chilled, add in the instant vanilla pudding mix and use an electric hand mixer to whip until you have a thick, fluffy cream mixture. Cover and chill until ready to assemble the cake.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 inch cake pan with a removable bottom- either a fluted deep-edged tart pan, or a spring form pan. Optionally, line the pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar with an electric hand mixer until the mixture becomes very thick and pale. Continue whipping until the mixture is very thick and fluffy, and leaves ribbons on the batter when you lift the beaters. This should take about 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla paste and stir to combine.

Sift the flour mixture into the eggs, and gently fold it together until there are no steaks of flour remaining. In a microwave safe bowl, heat the milk and melted butter in the microwave for about 45-60 seconds, or until it feels very warm to the touch, but it’s not boiling. Fold the warm milk into the batter until just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.

Remove the cake from the oven, and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

While the cake bakes, place the butter, honey, sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is boiling, and then continuing cooking for another 2 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in the almonds until everything is well coated.

Once the cake comes out of the oven, gently spread the hot almond syrup mixture over the top in an even layer- it doesn't have to be perfect! Return the cake to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the topping is bubbling and become a deep golden brown all over.

Let the cake cool completely before removing to slice and assemble.

Remove the cooled cake from your pan, and slice the cake across the middle into two stackable layers. I find this is easiest to do with a very sharp serrated knife, and by taking it slow so you can try to get even layers. Then take the top layer of the cake (the one with the almonds on top), and place it onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut this layer into as many slices as you'd like to serve- for me this cake makes a generous 16 slices.

Place the bottom cake layer onto your serving plate, and optionally drizzle another tablespoon or so of honey onto this cake directly. Gently spoon and spread the chilled filling over this layer, reaching all the way to the edges. Finally, reassemble the top layer on top of the filling. By pre-slicing the top layer, the filling won't squish out of the sides when you slice the cake to serve it. Enjoy this cake chilled!