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.
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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.
See how it comes together in the short video!
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:
- Sour cream mocha cake
- French lemon yogurt cake
- Gluten free hazelnut pear cake
- Plus get more dessert recipes and Spanish recipes in the archives.
I'd recommend using a springform cake tin for this such as this one to make this easy to remove from the pan.
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 200g (caster sugar is better, if possible)
- 2 cups almond flour 200g
- 1 lemon zest ie from 1 lemon
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp confectioners sugar approx, to dust (icing sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line an 8 inch/20cm round cake 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 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
Nutrition
Try these other Spanish baked recipes:
- Basque Chicken from Palatable Pastime
- Flan De Leche Condensada from Sneha's Recipe
- Magdalenas (Spanish Muffins) from Tara's Multicultural Table
- Patatas Panaderas from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Pescado al Horno con Gambas from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- San Marcos Cake from Pandemonium Noshery
- Spanish Potato Bake from Making Miracles
Remember to pin for later!
Lisa Blackwell
I baked this sticking exactly to the recipe but it came out very flat--about half as high as what appears in the photos--and the color was quite pale. I haven't tried it yet as it's for a party but wondering why it differs so much from what is depicted here? I whisked the eggs and sugar together for several minutes.
Caroline's Cooking
So there are two aspects to the 'lift' in the cake, one is getting air into the egg-sugar mixture so you get some little bubbles on the top and it looks paler, and the other is not stirring it all out as you fold in the other ingredients. You really want to be pretty light in your folding in so it combines but that's it. This isn't a leavened cake, so it won't rise anything like others that are, but you want a little air in there to save it becoming very dense. I hope that wasn't the case when you cut into it. I don't know what size of cake tin you used but that too, would change the height of the cake.
Lisa Blackwell
Thanks for your reply! It turned out to be quite delicious with a nice texture, and our guests enjoyed it very much! I'll definitely make it again 🙂
Lisa Blackwell
Oh, and I used an 8" springform pan.
Janet Nagy Hanley
My friends were delighted with this cake.
It came out perfect and it was easy to make. Everyone loved the St James cross on top. I had to share the recipe with the 2 other couples. Served 6 people with 2 leftover slices. Although it looked small, it was significant with the cross stencil. Love the recipe and I will make it again.
Caroline's Cooking
So glad to hear that it went down well with all!
Joanna
Very good, moist. Although 150g of sugar is enough, made with 200g and was too sweet for my and my family liking.
Caroline's Cooking
Glad to hear you enjoyed. Yes it is a relatively sweet cake, traditionally, as I have shared here and can understand why to some tastes you would prefer a little less sugar. We also like it, as I mention, with a fruit coulis which helps balance it out a little as well (if less traditional way to serve it).
Diane
Hola! I haven't made it yet but am having a Spanish dinner this Friday for friends. The only thing I needed was a dessert. I'm definitely going to use your recipe -- it looks very much like a winner. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Caroline's Cooking
This should be perfect, hope you all enjoy!
Monica
Quick and simple, thank you! As you’ve said, it’s on the sweeter side.
Caroline's Cooking
Glad to hear you enjoyed, and yes it really is so nice and easy.
Sigi Howes
I'm about to make this for the first time. I see your list of ingredients says almond flour. But in the instructions it speaks of ground almonds. Are the two the same thing?
Caroline's Cooking
Yes, they are the same thing - occasionally, ground almonds are not as fine, in which case if you have the choice, I'd say go for almond flour, but both will work here.
Helen Lee Robertson
Thanks for the recipe. I started making this after returning home from Santiago after my first pilgrimage. In my version, I include the juice and zest from one lemon and one orange but not the cinnamon (though I will give this a try).
One clarification about the Camino Francés - the route is 500 miles long and takes most pilgrims over a month to walk. The last 100 miles is the minimum distance that someone must walk to qualify for a “Compostela”, the certificate of completion. That distance usually takes about five days. My Caminos took 36, 38, and 36 days, walking different routes. Francés was the shortest one for me.
Caroline's Cooking
Like the idea of a little orange zest and some juice in there too (though not too much, I imagine). Definitely worth trying the bit of cinnamon. Thanks for mentioning re the Camino length - I think I was rushing as I was writing up that bit and missed some of the detail but have now updated. And well done on doing various routes as well!
Jeffrey
I made this cake the other day for family. It was a big hit. Very moist and not overly sweet. Took a small piece before it was gone for the next morning with coffee. Better than any danish or muffin. Thanks Caroline.
Caroline's Cooking
So glad to hear! It's a big favorite of ours as well, and I'd have to agree, better than a Danish pastry with coffee!
Ruth
Hola Caroline,
this cake looks and sounds delicious! Can I bake it with almond meal or do I need fine almond flour?
On a different note: Santiago is St. James.
Caroline's Cooking
Almond meal can vary in how coarse it is, so it may lead to a coarser texture in the end cake but I don't think that would necessarily be that bad. If your almond meal seems fairly fine, it is probably fine as it is. If it feels pretty coarse, maybe try putting it in the food processor for a little bit to try to grind it a little finer before using? And thanks for mentioning - I did know Santiago was St James but was obviously having a mental block as I wrote this up and mis-wrote, now updated!
Ruth
Thanks for your reply!
I'll try this cake when it cools down a little and I'll let you know how it turned out using fine almond meal.
Marietjie
200 g almond flour in recipe? Should it be 400 g?
Caroline's Cooking
No, 200g is correct - almond flour is much lighter than sugar.
Kent
5/5 Recipe extremely easy to follow, tastes really good.
0/5 placing recipe at the bottom of the worlds longest wall of text. Recipe should be at the very top, history after, so I don’t have to scroll ALL the way down everytime my phone screen turns off.
Please, please move it!
Caroline's Cooking
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the cake and found it easy to follow. I appreciate there is text before the recipe (as is pretty standard for most sites), but some of this is information which many people would find helpful before they make it so it helps to be before so they don't miss it. I've never actually had the problem of my phone going back to the top when the screen goes off, it always holds it's place on the page.
Marilena
It sounds so easy and yummy, I'll try it, is my kind of cake.
Thanks.
Caroline's Cooking
It is indeed both easy and delicious! Hope you enjoy as much as we do.
Lisa
This cake sounds like something I would really love -- the simple, straighforward ingredients - no fancy decorating (except I love that stencil) and that moist, tender crumb. I will definitely be trying this one. Thanks Caroline!
Caroline's Cooking
Thank you, hope you enjoy as much as we did - it was such a hit here, I can see me being a regular feature!
Sid
I'm definitely going to try this cake out. This looks and sounds amazing. I love baking with almond flour, it must be my Danish coming out.
sneha datar
A gorgeous cake, love it Caroline!
Caroline's Cooking
Thanks, and it's so easy, too.
Wendy Klik
This is exactly my kind of cake. It sounds so amazingly delicious, I can't wait to try it.
Caroline's Cooking
I hope you enjoy as much as we did, we are big fans 🙂
Tara
Absolutely gorgeous cake! Love that it is naturally gluten free and those flavors sound wonderful. Beautiful photos too!
Caroline's Cooking
Thank you! Yes the flavors are so lovely.
Rebekah @ Making Miracles
It's so simply elegant with that stencil and powdered sugar topping! I love all the lemon I'm seeing in this round up of recipes today!
Caroline's Cooking
Thanks - yes lemon is well used in Spanish cooking, which is part of what I like about it I imagine!
Karen
That cake is simple and beautiful. I love the stenciled cross, and the crumb looks amazing. Thanks for the mini tour and photo of the cathedral. Stunning.
Caroline's Cooking
Thanks, I love the traditional cross design as well - definitely worth adding I think! And glad you enjoyed a little about Santiago as well.
Juli
The crumb on that looks simply amazing! I would have ever guessed it had such a simple ingredient list from looking at it! I can't wait to try.
Caroline's Cooking
Thank you - I know what you mean, it definitely has a much better texture than you might expect, which is part of what makes it so wonderful!