Tarta de Santiago
Almonds, sugar, eggs, citrus zest and no flour — this cake is in practice ground almonds bound with egg. There is no baking powder and no starch, so the only thing lifting it is air beaten into the eggs. That is why they are whipped at length and the almonds folded in last, as briefly as possible. The cake is naturally gluten free and stays moist for days.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Almond batter 15 min
- Baking 40 min
- Cooling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneBeat the yolks with half the sugar
Heat the oven to 175°C. Beat the yolks with 125 g of sugar for 5 minutes, until pale and doubled. Together with the whipped whites this is all that lifts the cake — there is no raising agent and no flour to hold anything up. Add both zests, the cinnamon and salt.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 250 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pcs lemon · ½ pcs orange · ½ tsp cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Whip the whites to soft peaks
Whip the whites, adding the remaining sugar, to soft peaks that flop at the tip. Stiff meringue is too dry to fold into a dense almond mixture without knocking out the bubbles.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 250 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pcs lemon · ½ pcs orange · ½ tsp cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
The peak flops at the tip — stop there.Fold in almonds alternately with the meringue
Fold the ground almonds into the yolks alternately with the meringue, in three additions, cutting from the bottom. The batter will be thick and grainy — as it should be. Stop the moment the white streaks disappear.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 250 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pcs lemon · ½ pcs orange · ½ tsp cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Thick and grainy — this is not sponge batter.Bake 40 minutes at 175°C
Pour into a greased 24 cm springform and bake for 40 minutes, until deep gold and a skewer comes out with moist crumbs. The cake is low — about 3 cm — and stays that way.
Ingredients: 250 g ground almonds · 250 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pcs lemon · ½ pcs orange · ½ tsp cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Stencil the cross
Cool completely, about an hour — on a warm cake the icing sugar melts. Cut a cross of Saint James from paper, lay it on the cake and dust with icing sugar. Lift the stencil straight up in one movement — dragged sideways it smears the edges and the whole effect is lost.
Ingredients: 30 g icing sugar · 20 g butter
Stencil lifted straight up, in one movement.
Before you start
Almonds with skins, coarsely ground
Skin-on almonds give a darker cake with deeper flavour, and a coarse grind gives a distinct, slightly rough texture. Fine blanched almond flour gives a pale, smooth cake closer to sponge.
A week of freshness
The high fat content of the almonds stops it drying out. Under a dome it is good for seven days, and better on the third than the first as the almond flavour settles.
Without the stencil
The cross of Saint James is a symbol associated with Santiago and the pilgrims' way, but the cake is just as good without it. If you skip it, dust the whole surface — the contrast of white against the dark top is half the look.
