“Tarta De Santiago”. Galician Almond Cake (my version)

Due to the rather erratic weather we’ve been having lately, for the last couple of days it has been impossible to venture into our “huerta”. Apart from harvesting the odd courgette and trying not to sink into the mud in the process, little has been done regarding veggies. We did manage to leave the watering system on though. How clever of us!! It wasn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last that we’ve forgotten to turn it off after having a tremendous amount of rain.

When there’s nothing much to do outside except weeding, and I can only do so much of that, I busy myself around the house. I’ve been drying herbs, making infused oils with herbs I’d previously dried and as always, cooking and baking. Seeing as my last post was all about herbs I’ve decided to write about one of my favourite cakes instead, I shall do another post on the herbs I’ve been pottering around with soon.

The Tarta de Santiago (cake of St. James) is possibly the most well known cake from the autonomous community of Galicia. Strangely enough, even though they use a lot of almonds in their baking, Galicia isn’t an area where they grow almond trees (almendros). It is said that in the middle ages almonds (almendras) were a luxury that only a privileged few could afford. It was around this time that the first records of the Tarta de Santiago appeared. Although it was called Torta Real (Royal Cake) the ingredients were basically the same as the cake we now know as Tarta de Santiago.

Quite a few years back I dated a guy from Galicia. We often used to go and stay with his family in the Pontevedra province, a town called O Grove, famous for it’s shellfish (marisco). His mum was always busy, to the point where I sometimes think she didn’t sleep and if she did it was only for 3 or 4 hours a night. She had so much energy and the thing I remember most about her was seeing her drive by on her moped at a tremendous speed, waving to us frantically and not looking at the road! She was always in a rush to go somewhere.

It was his mum that made the first proper Tarta de Santiago I was lucky enough to sample. I had tried it in restaurants in our area but it was always horribly dry and tasteless. When I first sampled it in Galicia I didn’t think it could be the same thing. It was moist, almost buttery and so moreish that I think I might have had a couple of servings. I couldn’t believe it could be so tasty. His mum would often send us parcels by courier with shellfish (two of her sons were fishermen) and the obligatory Tarta de Santiago. I don’t mind if I never eat shellfish again but to not be able to savour this delicious cake, that would be a tragedy! Thankfully she gave me the recipe she used. I’ve altered it slightly as I think it’s too sweet, this might change the consistency just a tad but it’s still divine.

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In a couple of months we will be harvesting almonds. The blossom wasn’t as abundant this year so the crop won’t be as plentiful as previous years. Thankfully last year was very good and we’ve had what seems to have been an endless supply. The only trouble with them is that you have to shell them!! We set aside a morning every 3 or 4 weeks to crack a load and then store them in the fridge in a large airtight container ready for use. We’ve always got a jar of roasted almonds in the cupboard for a quick healthy snack and I use them a lot in different recipes. Just a quick note, if you buy almonds here try to purchase local Spanish ones, they’re much tastier than the imported ones and you’ll be helping the local farmers. They’re having a hard time lately with the laws the government is enforcing due to the Xylella Fastidiosa bacteria and need all the support they can get.

On with the recipe. I blanch, skin and grind our own almonds. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want, just purchase them already ground. The texture will be finer that way. If I wanted to make mine finer, after I’d skinned them I would put them in the oven at 120º centigrade to dry out for about 10 minutes and then grind them. The only trouble is, I have a gas oven that’s lowest temperature is 150 (and I think that’s not accurate, it’s more like 170!) so it’s not really feasible. The cake still turns out yummy without this process. On occasions I haven’t blanched or skinned the almonds, for quickness I’ve just ground them in their natural raw state. The cake is still delicious but the texture isn’t as light.

Once they’re ground, place them in a bowl with the sugar and the lemon zest and mix. You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon. Beat the eggs until foamy and stir them into the ground almonds. The recipe my ex mother-in-law gave me uses the same amount of sugar as almonds. As I said previously, this is far too sweet for me so I add less, but feel free to use the amount you prefer.

Like I said, my oven is a bit temperamental. The original recipe says to preheat your oven to 170º and bake the cake for 50 minutes. I set mine at 150º and the cake is done in just under 30 minutes. The fan is always on in my oven so that probably accounts for it. I also bake in a 9″ round cake tin which might have something to do with the faster cooking time, if I used a smaller tin it would no doubt take a bit longer. The cake is meant to be quite thin though. I just check to see if it’s done by inserting a skewer or toothpick in the centre. If it comes out clean, it’s done. I’d advise you to do the same just in case and keep an eye on it while it’s cooking.

Once it’s cooked, leave in the tin for about 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. You can eat it like this or cover in icing sugar. The traditional way would be to put a cross in the centre and dust over the icing sugar, then remove the cross carefully. I’m not really into crosses, I’m more into cats!!

We actually eat this cake for breakfast would you believe, because of all the almonds and eggs it keep us going till lunchtime, but it’s typically served either as dessert or for “merienda”, the Spanish time for having an afternoon snack, normally around 6pm. Whenever you choose to eat it, you’re bound to want more than one slice!

I hope you try this recipe, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. If you do try it, please let me know what you think. Thanks again for reading. As always, any questions or suggestions please don’t hesitate to contact us. See you soon. Love Georgie and Pep xxx

Tarta De Santiago

A gluten-free, grain-free almond cake from Galicia

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Ingredients

  

• 250 grams ground almonds
• 155 grams raw cane sugar or white sugar (the traditional recipe calls for 250g sugar)
• grated zest of one lemon
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon optional
• oil or butter to grease the tin

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 170º centigrade. Grease and line a 9" round loose bottomed cake tin
• In a bowl combine ground almonds, sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon if using
• In a separate bowl beat the eggs until foamy. Add eggs to the ground almond mixture
• Tip the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven from anywhere between 30 to 50 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn. It should be slightly golden in colour and a skewer or toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the centre
• Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack
• Cool completely and dust with icing sugar if desired. Enjoy!