First of all, prepare the “crumble” because it will need to rest. Mix the almonds, sugar, baking soda, flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the softened butter (taken out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before) cut into pieces and rub everything together with the tips of your fingers to form a crumb-like mixture. Cover with cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for about half an hour. In the meanwhile prepare the filling: wash the cherries, pat them dry and remove the stones; then mix them with the flour and sugar and set aside. Now move on to the cake base: in a bowl, beat the room-temperature butter with the sugar, preferably using an electric whisk. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring constantly; only add the second one when the first is fully amalgamated. Add the cream, the seeds from the vanilla pod and the grated lemon rind, and stir again. Finally, add the flour – sifted together with the baking soda and baking powder – and the salt; stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula until you obtain a smooth mixture. Pour half of it into the well-buttered cake tin, level the surface, put the cherries on top, and then cover with the other half. Take the crumble out of the fridge and sprinkle it over the surface. Bake in a preheated oven, at 170 °C, for about an hour (check to make sure it doesn’t brown too much, if necessary cover with kitchen foil and reduce the temperature slightly). At the end of the cooking time, take the cake out of the oven, leave it to cool down completely and then remove it from the cake tin.