Tarta de Santiago (Almond cake)
Yesterday was my birthday, I had such a great time!!!.Instead of celebrating with the typical two-layer cake, I chose one of my favorites, the Tarta de Santiago. Basically a pure almond cake. My birthday is on July 24, and the day of Santiago de Compostela is a day later, on July 25, so probably that is why I like this cake so much. I have to be honest, I didn´t make this cake, my mom was the one who baked it. I only took the photographs, but I have prepared it many times before. 
Tarta de Santiago is a traditional sweet from Galicia, in fact it has a protected designation of origin. Its main ingredients are almonds, sugar and eggs. Although I like to add a little lemon zest and ground cinnamon. It is always round in shape and in its center it has the cross of the Order of Santiago, formed with a layer of confectioner’s sugar. 
Supposedly, it was an exclusive cake to the Galician upper class families of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Almonds does not occur naturally in the lands of Galicia, so they had to be imported from other parts of Spain and therefore were considered a luxury. At that time sugar was also considered an expensive ingredient, so the Tarta de Santiago was a dessert of social distinction. 
Today it is much more accessible. You can even find some Tartas de Santiago in the frozen section of some supermarkets. And a good Spanish restaurant will surely have some on its dessert menu. 
When I make this cake I prefer to use whole almonds, first I toasted them for 10 minutes in an electric oven and then I grind them in a coffee grinder until they have a texture similar to flour. I prefer to use this method for this cake because toasted almonds give it a more golden color and an intense flavor. 
It is a cake with an intense almond flavor and a fluffy, spongy, grainy texture. 
- 3 eggs
- 150 gr (5.3 oz) sugar
- 150 gr (5.3 oz) almond flour
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Zest of half a lemon
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and flour a 23 cm (9 in) round cake mold pan.
- With a hand mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy.
- In a medium bowl mix together the almond flour, cinnamon, all-purpose flour and lemon zest.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared mold, 1.5 cm (3/4 in) tall. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the mold comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully invert into a serving platter.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Thank you for the introduction to this beautiful cake! I am a big fan of almond flour desserts, especially ones that are so simple and focused on good quality ingredients like this one. If i wanted to make it gluten-free, could I leave out the AP flour, or should I substitute in a GF flour blend just to be safe? Thanks!
Hi Nora, thanks for stopping by! You can definitely make it without AP flour, I have discover that it is easier to unmold it when using AP flour, it works as a sponge and absorbs the natural fat in almonds (I make my own almond flour). Actually the original Tarta de Santiago is pure almond flour.