Santiago cake recipe

Tomorrow, July 25th, is the day of Santiago Apóstol, the Day of Galicia. That is why the traditional Tarta de Santiago cannot be missing from your home. It is a classic of Galician pastry, which is prepared exclusively with ground almonds, eggs and sugar, and occasionally lemon zest and cinnamon are added for flavouring. Never flour , so it is a cake suitable for celiacs . No baking powder is added either. The result is therefore a dense cake, with a deep almond flavour.

There is not much mystery to the preparation, since the orthodoxy of this cake indicates that the ingredients should only be mixed and then baked. Its recipe and preparation are under Protected Geographical Indication, which is why the proportion of eggs, sugar and almonds that this cake must have to be considered "Tarta de Santiago" and not just any almond cake is fixed . The proportion of almonds and sugar must be between 33% and 37.5% and that of eggs between 33% and 25%.

Emilie Henry wavy ceramic mould , Masterclass wooden board and Pallarès iron knife

Sometimes a shortcrust pastry lining is added, which is not usual, and which I personally do not like in this cake. The Tarta de Santiago that I have eaten all my life in Galicia (Santiago and Rias Baixas) is without lining. The quality cake is thin and very dense, with a grainy almond texture, that is, you can taste the almond. And not at all dry, since the almond gives it a lot of moisture.

Let's go with the recipe!

INGREDIENTS (for a 20-22 cm mould)

• 4 "L" eggs at room temperature (approx. 240 gr)
• 240gr of sugar
• 240g Marcona almonds ground in two types of grinding (we will need about 280g of whole almonds)
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• Powdered sugar for sprinkling
• Stencil of the Cross of Santiago

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC with heat from above and below.
2. Grease and flour the mould you are going to use. In my case, the Emilie Henry wavy ceramic mould (if you are making the cake for celiacs, be careful with the flour you use to prepare the mould).
3. Using a food processor , grind the almonds. Grind half of them like flour and the other half into a coarser texture (you should know that an almond grinder can also help you with this).
4. Mix the eggs with the sugar and beat with electric whisks or with the KA balloon attachment until they almost double in volume (Here you can just mix them and that's it, it's up to you).
5. Add the ground almonds, cinnamon and lemon zest and mix with a rubber spatula using circular movements.
6. Pour the mixture into the mould and bake for about 30 minutes, until the surface is golden. After 25 minutes, start checking. If you stick a stick in the centre, the skewer should come out clean, with no traces of batter.
7. The cake will rise a little in the oven if we have chosen to blanch the eggs, but it will rise very little and will deflate when we take it out.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack . Remove from the mould after 20 minutes, when it has settled but is still warm. If left for much longer, it may stick to the mould due to the amount of sugar. However, if you have used a properly glazed ceramic mould, this will not be necessary.
9. Once cooled, place the template of the cross of Santiago in the centre of the cake and sprinkle with icing sugar. Remove the template very carefully.
10. Delicious, accompanied by a good herbal liquor, and even more settled from one day to the next.

Fleur de Ligne Tokyo design porcelain bowls , Masterclass wooden board , Emilie Henry wavy ceramic mould and Pallarès iron knife

Tips

- The thinner the cake, the crispier it will be. And the thicker it is, the moister it will be - as long as you don't overcook it.

Enjoy.

Virginia