Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Position oven rack to the middle.

Take 1/2 TBS of the butter and melt it on a 10-inch cast iron skillet. You can also use a 9-inch cake pan for baking the cake. Swirl melted butter around the entire surface of the skillet.

In a small saucepan, melt the rest of the butter over medium heat. Once melted, remove saucepan from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the lemon zest and maple syrup together. Whisk in the eggs until well incorporated. Add the salt and vanilla and whisk everything.

Sift flour into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, stir flour and wet mixture together. Add melted butter and stir well.

Pour batter into skillet. Sprinkle almonds on top. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Prepare Whipped Cream: While cake is baking, prepare whipped cream. Place all the whipped cream ingredients into a glass jar. You want to make sure that the jar can hold at least 2 cups of liquid. Shake jar vigorously. You will hear the liquids jostling in the jar when you first shake it. Keep shaking the jar until you can no longer hear liquids moving around, about 5 minutes. When you open the jar, you should see thick whipped cream. Refrigerate whipped cream until the cake is ready to be served.

When the cake is finished, let it cool for 5 minutes before cutting into it. Serve cake warm with some whipped cream, turbinado sugar, and sugared cranberries, if you like.

Wrap any leftovers tightly and store in room temperature for up to 5 days.