Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” springform pan and line the bottom and side with parchment paper.
Peel and core the pears. Dice three of the pears into 1” pieces and place in a bowl. Squeeze ½ of the lemon over the diced pear and toss lightly. Slice the remaining three pears into six slices each. Place in another bowl and squeeze the other half of the lemon over it. Toss lightly.
Coarsely grate or chop the almond paste and put it in the bowl of your mixer. Melt the butter and add to the almond paste. Beat for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth. Beat in the sugar and almond extract. Beat for 4-5 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until the eggs are mixed in. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together. Fold in the diced apples.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread it evenly in the pan. Place the apple slices in a decorative pattern on top of the batter, pushing lightly on each slice to anchor them in the batter.
Bake in a 350-degree oven 60-70 minutes until a tester comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly cover lightly with aluminum foil.
While the cake is baking melt the jelly over a low flame.
Remove the cake from the oven and place the cake in the pan on a wire rack. While the cake is hot, brush the melted jelly all over the top. Cool completely before releasing the cake from the pan.
The cake will keep, covered in plastic wrap for 4-5 days.
Recipe Notes
Note: ginger is another flavor that pairs beautifully with almond and pear. Add 1/2 tsp ground ginger to the cake for a little bite to the flavor