What cake should I bake if I wish to present it as a gift for a friend?

I love the caramelized pear cake from Bi-Rite Market in SF and have been making it for years. It is easy to make, beautiful and can be modified with apples, extra ginger or zest. I like to top it with squiggles of candied orange and lemon peel and sometimes you can find tiny pears or apples that you can also coat in shimmery sugar. I also almost always dust it with ground hazelnuts and serve it with spiked whipped cream. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Caramelized-Pear-Cake-103934

I really like Midge's Grown Up Birthday Cake - it has olive oil and is really almost savory rather than too sweet. I think this would be a nice gift because it would be difficult (if not impossible) to buy such a unique cake anywhere.

Patricia Wells has a recipe for an olive oil-grape cake with orange and lime zest. It has pine nuts on top and is dusted with powdered sugar. It is delicious-and if you want to make it elegant, you can do a spun sugar topping.

Don't forget the Food 52 delight of 2011 , Louisa's lemon ricotta cake. Saragrad, this one layer cake is moist , thanks to a grated apple and ricotta , and flavorful thanks to lemon peel . It can be dusted with powdered sugar, or iced with a simple cream cheese /lemon frosting. It also is better after it sits for a day or two. You cannot go wrong with this recipe!!!!! NJOY!!!

Here are some good ones:
http://food52.com/recipes/7569_ginger_apple_torte

http://food52.com/recipes/282_simple_summer_peach_cake

http://food52.com/recipes/6082_late_summer_plum_cake

http://food52.com/recipes/2907_the_snake_bite