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spanish almond cake, decorated with powdered sugar and St.James cross on top
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5 from 1 vote

Tarta de Santiago: Spanish almond cake.

Prep Time30 minutes
Active Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: spanish
Keyword: spanish almond cake, tarta de santiago
Yield: 8 slices
Calories: 401kcal
Author: Luca Frau

Equipment

  • 1 10-inch springform pan
  • 1 stand mixer
  • 1 medium bowl
  • 1 inclined offset spatula, large
  • 1 flexible rubbermaid spatula

Materials

  • 5 large eggs, room temperature
  • 300 g granulated sugar
  • 300 g almond flour
  • 2 tsp almond extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 orange zest

To finish:

  • powdered sugar

Instructions

  • The process is pretty much straightforward, we're gonna place five large eggs, always at room temperature, in a stand mixer bowl.
  • Add 300g of granulated sugar and whip the eggs until fluffy and pale yellow. It will take around 5 minutes.
  • While the eggs are mixing, we prepare the dry ingredients.
  • In a medium bowl, combine 300g of almond flour with 1 tsp of cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
  • The traditional recipe also calls for lemon zest, but I think that oranges pair better with almonds and cinnamon.
  • Stir with a spatula, then grab the bowl with the egg mixture.
  • Ok, now we have the wet and dry ingredients, what we have to do is gently fold the almond flour into the egg mixture, very carefully avoiding deflating the batter.
  • Once all the flour is incorporated and you have a smooth batter, transfer it into a 10" springform pan greased with butter and lined with parchment paper.
  • This cake is really moist, and sometimes the cake sticks to the bottom even if is greased, so I prefer to be safe than sorry I also lined the pan with parchment paper.
  • Clean the bowl of any streaks of batter using a silicone spatula and bake a 350°F in a preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. To know exactly when the cake is done, my advice is to use a kitchen thermometer; when the internal temperature reaches 210°F is ready.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack, I know it's tough, and you want to eat it right away, but as I said, this is very delicate and needs to be set a little.
  • Now we can start unmolding the cake, remove the ring, then grab the sides of the parchment paper and lift the cake.
  • Now grab a large angled spatula and pass it underneath the cake to separate the cake from the paper.
  • Last we pass a cake board underneath, and voila, ready.
  • This cake is traditionally finished by dusting icing sugar on top with the stencil of the St.James cross in the middle.
  • Then when you lift the stencil, you have a wonderful decoration.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 150g | Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 156IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 2mg