Almond cake
This Galician cake rests on three ingredients: almonds, eggs and sugar; lemon and cinnamon are only aromatics. There is no flour, no added fat and no raising agent, so in this version everything depends on one thing: how well you whip the eggs. They carry the entire structure.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Whipping the eggs 12 min
- Folding in the almonds 8 min
- Baking 40 min
- Cooling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneWhip the eggs for twelve minutes
Heat the oven to 175°C and grease a 23 cm springform with butter. Whip the eggs with the sugar and salt for 10–12 minutes on high speed until the mixture triples in volume, pales and falls from the whisk in a ribbon whose trail holds for 5 seconds. That air is the only thing that lifts the cake.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 4 pcs eggs · 200 g sugar · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp cinnamon · ¼ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract
TipRoom-temperature eggs whip faster and to a greater volume than cold ones. Take them out an hour ahead.
A ribbon whose trail holds for five seconds.Add the aromatics
Gently fold in the zest of the whole lemon, the cinnamon and vanilla. Lemon zest is not a garnish here — it balances the sweetness and the richness of the almonds; without it the cake is heavy and bland.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 4 pcs eggs · 200 g sugar · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp cinnamon · ¼ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract
Fold in the almonds in three additions
Add the ground almonds in three additions, folding with a spatula from the bottom up and turning the bowl. Stop when the last dry trace disappears. Every extra stroke deflates a mixture you spent twelve minutes whipping.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 4 pcs eggs · 200 g sugar · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp cinnamon · ¼ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract
Bottom-up motion, three additions, not one stroke more.Bake for forty minutes
Pour into the prepared springform and bake at 175°C for 38–40 minutes. The top browns clearly and a skewer comes out clean; if it darkens too fast, cover loosely with foil. The cake sinks a little once out of the oven, and that is normal — there is no raising agent to hold it.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 4 pcs eggs · 200 g sugar · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp cinnamon · ¼ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cool completely
Cool 30 minutes in the tin, then release the ring and cool about 30 minutes more on a rack, until completely cold. Warm almond cake is fragile and breaks as you move it; cold it holds perfectly, cuts into clean slices and the icing sugar does not melt on it.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 4 pcs eggs · 200 g sugar · 1 pcs lemon · ½ tsp cinnamon · ¼ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dust through a stencil
Cut a cross of Saint James (or any shape) from paper, lay it on the cake and sift icing sugar densely over it. Lift the stencil straight up in one movement — dragging it sideways smudges the pattern.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp icing sugar · 15 g butter
Lift the stencil straight up, never slide it sideways.
Before you start
Skin-on almonds
Ground almonds with skins give a darker cake with deeper flavour. Blanched ones give a paler, more delicate result, closer to the traditional version — both work.
Shelf life
The cake keeps up to 5 days in an airtight container; the almonds keep it moist for a long time.
Serving
In Galicia it is often served with a glass of sweet wine or coffee. It needs no cream or glaze — icing sugar is the whole finish.
