I was recently given this incredible book of cakes, which honestly has every kind of brilliant cake recipe you could ever ask for! With Spring in full flourish the Tarta De Santiago really sprung out from the page (pun definitely intended). It’s a Spanish almond cake that’s deliciously light, incredibly moist and packed with the refreshing zing of orange & lemon.
Tarta De Santiago
- 18cm springform tin, greased
- 260g ground almonds
- 255g caster sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 6 eggs, separated
- 4 drops of almond extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- icing sugar, to dust
Preheat your oven to 170c. Cream together the egg yolks, 180g of the sugar and zests until light and fluffy. Next, add the almond extract, cinnamon and stir in the ground almonds.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until peaks hold and you can flip the bowl upside down. Fold this into the almond mix one quarter at a time. It’s a little tricky at first because the almond mix is very stiff!
Once combined pour into your cake tin and bake for 40 minutes. Then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Finally, dust generously with icing sugar. Traditionally a Tarta de Santiago has the stencil of the St James Cross. But I gave mine a Spring touch with some flower shapes.
This almond cake has an extremely moist consistency, so don’t feel deflated if it sinks a little in the centre, it’s quite normal! There’s wonderful contrast through the cake, from an incredibly light texture through to a more dense, rich middle. It’s more like a pudding than a cake, especially when served warm from the oven.
I served mine with natural yoghurt flavoured with vanilla and a tablespoon each of lemon & orange juice.