Romanian prăjitură cu rubarbă is a simple, rustic rhubarb-studded cake that is covered with a snowy cloud of meringue after baking, then slid back into the oven. A few minutes later, the two-layer treat emerges with a crown of golden swirls and peaks—a sort of feather-light frosting on an open-crumbed fruit cake. Riffing on Irina Georgescu’s recipe from “Tava,” we swapped pitted cherries (either fresh or thawed frozen works well) for highly seasonal rhubarb. We first macerate the fruits with a little sugar to draw out some of the juices that otherwise make the cake soggy. We scatter the cherries onto the batter before baking, but they wind up in a jam-like layer at the bottom of the cake. Most Romanian meringue-topped rhubarb cakes are baked in a square or rectangular pan, but we use a springform, which makes for an easy, elegant presentation. Testing revealed that the finish of the pan affects the baking. A dark-colored pan, such as one with a nonstick coating, requires a slightly lower oven temperature than a light-colored one, so make sure to heat the oven as directed in the recipe depending on the finish of your pan. This cake is best served the day it is baked, but leftovers can be refrigerated, tented with foil, for up to a day; bring to room temperature before serving. The meringue may form beads of moisture on the surface, but the taste and texture still will be good.