How To Make Tarta de Santiago

Almonds are one of Spain’s essential ingredients, a vital element of the nation’s agriculture and cuisine. This cake, from the northern Spanish region of Galicia, has been made for almost 500 years and remains one of the country’s most popular desserts.

It’s also one of the simplest – a delicious moist and fragrant cake that’s perfect with a morning coffee, as a dessert or as a special treat with a sweet white wine.

INGREDIENTS

• 300 g of granulated sugar

• 300 g of peeled almonds

• 4 large eggs

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 50 g of icing sugar for decoration

You’ll also need a 25 cm non-stick cake tin. The cake is fragile, and a springform one that can be loosened after baking is best.

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan) or 180°C.

2. Line the cake pan with a circle of baking paper to fit the base; place it on the bottom of the pan over a few small dabs of butter to help it stick. Grease the sides with butter.

3. Grind the almonds in a blender. When they are a rough, sugary texture remove half and grind the rest to a finer texture.

4. Mix the sugar, eggs, and lemon zest together until the mixture turns pale.

5. Add the almonds and mix; the result will be a dense paste similar to marzipan.

6. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for approximately 25- 30 minutes until the surface is lightly golden, crisp and brittle. The interior should remain moist, barely touched by the oven’s heat. Since the mixture consists of sugar, eggs, and almonds, it requires very little cooking, and the goal is to preserve that moisture.

7. Once baking is complete, remove from the oven and let cool. Carefully take the cake from the ring and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.