Tarta de Santiago is an almond cake from Spain that couldn't be easier to make. It's naturally gluten free, with a little brightness from lemon and lovely sweet, soft texture. Great for coffee time or dessert.
This post may contain affiliate links, where we earn from qualifying purchases. See more details in the policy page.
Many people who travel to Spain either just head to a beach town or if they go to a city, visit Barcelona or maybe Madrid. Don't get me wrong, I love all of those (I lived in Madrid a while and have seen my share of Spanish beaches).
However Spain has so many more sights, experiences and flavors to enjoy around the country.
A pilgrimage destination
Santiago de Compostela in the Northwest is probably best known as the end point of the Camino de Santiago. It's a long trail, traditionally a pilgrimage, that is said to follow the path of St James leading to the cathedral that holds a shrine to him. To be more precise, it's more of a network of trails as you can come from a few directions.
The most popular is the "Camino Frances" which, despite the name, mainly travels across Northern Spain. It starts just over the border in France (giving it the name) and, depending on your pace, will take 5 days or more to cover the minimum 100km to qualify for a certificate of completion (though the full route from the border is 790km).
I have memories of being in Santiago de Compostela in the square in front of the cathedral and seeing groups of people arriving. You could very clearly tell who had traveled along the trail, not just because of the boots and packs on their backs, but the sheer joy and relief at the sight of the cathedral. They'd reached their destination.
And I have to say, the cathedral was one impressive sight, whether you'd hiked the trail or not. On my couple visits, it was one of the things that I really loved about the small town, along with the covered stone colonnades and delicious food.
True, food is a big part of most of Spain, but in Galicia, where Santiago is, seafood, stews and Padron peppers are on pretty much every menu. You'll also find a good number of bakeries selling savory pies and this traditional almond cake.
What are the origins of this cake?
While it is named after St James (Santiago), the origins of this cake are unclear. Some stories say that it was brought as an offering be a pilgrim making the Camino and was then adopted. But then, since it is said to originate in the Middle Ages, who knows.
Either way, it uses some very typical ingredients for a Spanish dessert - eggs, sugar, almonds and lemon. Cinnamon is not in all versions, but for me it's always a good idea so I have included it.
There are two main methods of bringing these ingredients together - some mix the dry ingredients then gradually add the eggs. Others beat the eggs and sugar together then mix in the dry ingredients.
I'm not sure how much it matters, but I like beating the egg and sugar first to get a bit of air in them to help lighten the cake. I think it helps get a nice slightly chewy crust on the top. Then you simply pour it into a prepared tin and bake.
It's that easy, my kids did the majority of the work in making this one time (and they did a good job devouring it once baked as well!).
Some gluten free cakes can be a bit heavy in texture, but that's surprisingly not the case here. Particularly when there is no raising agent, it tastes unusually light. But I think that's partly it contains a good number of eggs which add a certain amount of "lift".
I'm sometimes tempted to reduce the level of sugar in baking, and often do, but I think this is one where you just go with the traditional proportions. It's relatively sweet, but I think you need the sweetness for the texture and flavor.
Can you make a larger cake?
If you have ever been in Santiago, you have probably seen these cakes in all sizes in the many bakeries and restaurants around the city. I have made this on the smaller size, as it fits our family, but you can certainly make this into a bigger cake if that suits better. I see no reason why you couldn't make it smaller as well.
Whatever size you make, just keep the same weight proportions and adjust cooking time for a larger or smaller cake. This cake is traditionally made relatively 'flat', so if you make it larger, make sure you also use a larger tin as far as possible.
Traditionally, you dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar (icing sugar) with a stencil of a St James' cross on top. Then, when you take the stencil away, you are left with the cross shape. It's a very simple, effective decoration. I drew my own stencil using various images I found online, but one that you can download to try is this one.
Tarta de Santiago is a cake you'll find everywhere in its hometown, but its surprisingly unknown elsewhere. However for such an easy, delicious, and naturally gluten free cake that seems such a shame. Make sure you get to know it, and enjoy it often!
Try these other delicious cakes:
- Austrian apricot cake (Marillenkuchen)
- Sour cream mocha cake
- Pear cake
- French lemon yogurt cake
- Plus get more dessert recipes and Spanish recipes in the archives.
I'd recommend an 8in non-stick springform pan for this for easy removal (affiliate link, the 8in in this set is what I use).
See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.
Tarta de Santiago
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sugar (caster sugar is better, if possible)
- 2 cups almond flour (or ground almonds)
- 1 lemon zest ie from 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon confectioners sugar approx, to dust (icing sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line an 8 inch/20cm round springform/cake pan/tin with parchment on the bottom and rub the sides with a little butter.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the sugar. Whisk the two together until well combined and starting to become lighter in color with a bit of air in the mixture.
- Add the almond flour/ground almonds, lemon zest and cinnamon and mix until combined, but try not to overmix and get all of the air out of the mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and place in the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the cross stencil, if not already prepared.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool around 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack before removing the outer ring. Allow it to cool completely before placing the stencil on top of the middle then dusting some confectioners sugar over the top. Carefully remove the stencil without letting the sugar fall on the area you had covered. Slice and serve or store at room temp, covered.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Try these other Spanish baked recipes:
- Basque Chicken from Palatable Pastime
- Patatas Panaderas from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Pescado al Horno con Gambas from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- San Marcos Cake from Pandemonium Noshery
Remember to pin for later!
Selina says
It’s far past time that I thank you for this recipe! I’ve made it at least 20 times since I found it a few years ago. It comes out perfectly and everyone loves it, every time.
We usually separate the batter into muffin tins and reduce the cooking time. I often double the proportions because they disappear so fast!
Caroline says
I'm so glad to hear that you've been enjoying it and that it's gone down well! And yes, works well in different sizes too.
EllenZ says
This cake was a hit at our World Cup Finale party! It was so easy to make, and everyone loved it. Thanks so much for the easy and fast recipe! That’s my kind of cake! 😋
Caroline says
I'm so glad to hear it went down well (and great choice for the occasion!)
Martin Hanover says
Perfect! Just like i had in Spain and easy to make. Many thanks, Martin.
Caroline says
So great to hear! Glad it brought back tasty memories.
Sarah Penny says
Hi
Quick question, do you use medium or large eggs for the tarte di Santiago?
Caroline says
So in the US I would use large, but I believe a UK medium egg is similar size to a US large, so it depends where you are.
Melissa D says
Delicious!!! So easy to make, reminds us so much of a little cake square I like to get in Spain. Do *not* skip the parchment on the bottom of the cake pan—I speak from experience!
Caroline says
So glad you enjoyed it! And yes, the parchment does make quite a difference.
Maria Teale says
Easy to make and delicious
Caroline says
So glad to hear!
Mamatha says
I rarely write comments on food blogs but I had to for this recipe because of how easy it was to put together with minimal ingredients and how delicious it turned out. I’ve eaten this cake before but this version seemed a little fudgy but I’m not complaining because it was so yummy. I’m going to play with the flavors - using orange zest instead of lemon, adding liqueur, other spices etc. This recipe is a keeper!! Thank you for sharing it.
Caroline says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it and yes, it is fantastically easy! I definitely think orange would work well in there, and potentially some other flavors.
Sherri H says
I have made this cake on several occasions: dessert enjoying tapas with friends, guests who are gluten-free, and this week for Passover. It is so easy and absolutely delicious! Highly recommend with berries on the side. Thanks so much for this.
Caroline says
So glad you have been enjoying it, and I agree it's great with berries - that bit of tartness from raspberries I feel goes particularly well.
Zachary says
Discovered this cake at a Brazilian cafe and it was so delicious i had to google it, which bright me here. I followed the recipe exactly and everyone else agrees it's amazing! Extremely simple to make too, but they don't need to know that 🤭
Thanks for posting the recipe!
Caroline says
So glad you discovered it and the recipe worked well for you! And agree, it's wonderfully easy.
Annabella Mcmillan says
How long does it keep
Can i make it 4 days in advance of consuming?
Caroline says
So you can store it a few days, if allowed to cool then wrapped and stored at room temperature. 3 days should definitely be fine, 4 may be OK but it could be pushing it a little (I'd say it will depend on temperature/humidity which can speed up it going bad). So it may be OK that long, but I'd ideally suggest you bake it slightly closer to the time you need it.
Susan Secord says
I tried a different version of this recipe that included butter and 2 tsp of almond extract and didn't have lemon zest. It was delicious; but I like the fact that your recipe doesn't have butter. Do you think I could add the almond extract to your recipe? I'm not sure if the almond extract will taste good with the lemon zest.
Caroline says
Generally, almond extract is just going to give you a little more almond flavor. And as a rule, almond and lemon are flavors that work well together. So as long as you only use a small amount, I think it should be fine - I would just not use too much as extracts tend to be strong and so can take over and you want to enjoy the lemon in there too.
Betty Moon says
Having walked the Camino a couple of weeks ago, the flavor of this type of cake was fresh in my mind. While this is a nice recipe for a light cake, it didn’t match what we had in Spain. I weighed the ingredients, used almond flour and super-fine caster sugar so it would blend well, but the flavors just weren’t as impressive. Plus like some other reviews, it took about 50 minutes to bake, and then after cooling still had a somewhat overly moist center as compared to those on the Camino. Tasty for sure, but not what I was hoping for.
Caroline says
Sorry the flavors weren't quite the same but I can take a pretty good guess that the reason is the almonds. I've written it more as being what is accessible and being as close as is reasonable for most cooks. In Spain, marcona almonds are the most typical variety that have a rounder shape and stronger flavor. While you can buy them whole elsewhere, it's often only online and I haven't seen them ground into flour. And flour is pretty much always going to be a little less strong in flavor than grinding your own, even with the best of brands. You're best chance at getting the best flavor is to grind your own almonds, ideally marcona, but by sure to grind fine but not so long you make almond butter. Alternatively, you can try to boost the flavor with some almond extract - just a few drops should help.
Kelly says
When I click on metric measurements the almond isn't double the sugar like in the us standard measurements? Is that correct?
Caroline says
Yes it is - the US imperial measurements are volume, while the metric are weight, sugar is heavier than ground almonds so that's why there's a difference, but the conversion gives you the same quantity, allowing for a slight margin of error in the volume as it's not quite as consistent.
L says
Love this one very easy and everyone loves it
Caroline says
So glad to hear!
Lisbeth says
Easiest cake ever! A favourite in my household, I’ve made it several times now, with lemon and with orange.
I love that it can be scaled to different sizes so easily too! I made a mini batch in cupcake pans when I only had 1 egg.
Caroline says
I'm so glad you have been enjoying it, and love the idea of cupcake sized versions.
Lisa Lottes says
So good.its my new favorite cake.
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear that!
erica says
I have a 9.5 inch spring form pan... I'm wondering if it's ok to use this size, or if I could double the recipe? ...but his would probably throw off the bake time.
Caroline's Cooking says
So I'd say it's a bit up to you, but you likely need to watch bake time either way. You could use the quantities as they are with the slightly larger pan, but it would end up a thinner cake. And it will likely cook a little quicker so I would watch and check more often towards the end. Or you could make maybe 1.5 times the recipe to give a slightly larger volume and thickness that's probably close, and yes it will take a little longer to bake but hard to say exactly how much. Maybe an extra 5 minutes?
Heather says
This cake was delicious. I thought there was no way any cake without oil or butter would be good but this cake was even better than most traditional cakes I've tried. I used a bit less sugar than it called for because I don't like things too sweet and it turned out perfect! It was super easy to make as an added bonus.
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad you enjoyed, and agree it's wonderfully easy.
Rosemarie McAuliffe says
This recipe was so easy to make and, using the feedback from my very fussy book club ladies - it was a HIT!
I will definitely make this cake again.
Caroline's Cooking says
That's so great to hear!
Barbara Shurgot says
Step 5 mentions "outer ring", but Step 1 says to use a cake pan. Should this be baked in a spring form pan?
Caroline's Cooking says
You can use either - I generally find a springform easier in terms of releasing it but both will work. I've updated the first step to try to make it clearer you can use both.
Barbara Shurgot says
Thank you for clarifying! It's very helpful.
Rusty says
I hiked the Camino (Sarria to Santiago de Compostela) in 2022 and loved this cake with cappuccino all along the way!
I made this cake and came out really well. Although the texture was quite fluffy. What would you suggest to make it a bit dense (that’s how I remember it). Thanks
Caroline's Cooking says
How lovely to have hiked the trail and had this on the way! So if you want it less fluffy, you probably want less air in your egg mixture as that's where the fluffiness comes in. So maybe either beat a little less or knock back some of the bubbles after.
Kbcmassage says
Excellent! Gluten free, quick & easy and a fun presentation.
Caroline's Cooking says
Glad you enjoyed and found it easy!
Claudia says
I used orange peel instead and the taste is out of this world!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad you enjoyed, and indeed orange can also work well.
Brenda Drew says
Easy perfect for me a novice .
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear it worked well for you - and indeed it's wonderfully easy!