What Is Spanish Almond Cake?
Spanish almond cake or widely known as tarta de Santiago (St. James cake) is a traditional Galician cake. Galicia is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
This cake doesn't have any type of flour in it, making it a great option for those who practise gluten-free diet.
The cake can either be with a base or not. The base can be a shortcut pastry or puff pastry.
It is typically dusted with icing sugar with an imprint of Santiago's (St. James) cross.
Today I'm sharing with you my take on this delicious traditional Spanish almond cake without the base.
Let's start.
What Makes It Special?
Simple Ingredients
What I find so special about this cake is the simplicity of its ingredients.
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The main ingredients for this cake are almond meal, eggs and sugar. Yep, extremely basic ingredients, which of course make this cake a super easy one to prepare.
Simple Ratio
Apart from only having 3 main ingredients, each ingredient is the same weight to the other. You can see it in my written recipe below.
Having that simple and basic guide (you know I don't like to be bound by rules in cooking), the easiest way to start building your Spanish almond cake is by determining the amount of eggs that you will use.
1 large egg = 50 g.
Meaning using 1 large egg will also need 50 g of almond meal and 50 g of sugar.
Simple!
Simple Unique Look
As I mentioned earlier, this cake is dusted with icing sugar with an imprint of Santiago's cross on its top surface.
You can also make an imprint of a scallop shell. Or with no imprint at all. Your choice.
My Spanish Almond Cake
For this recipe, I'm keeping it simple like the typical traditional recipes out there, using the same amount of the main ingredients.
Typically, only a bit of lemon zest is added, but I like to add a good amount of it, like in my lemon cake with almonds, together with some clementine zest.
I love baking with lemon, clementine, and orange zest during this time of year.
I'm also adding a bit of cinnamon powder and salt. I think a touch of salt is always amazing when a recipe uses quite amount of sugar, like in this case.
If you love almond cake, I would really recommend you to try this Spanish almond cake.
Before You Go
Do you want to see more nuts-related recipes? Perhaps you can check these out
Video
📖 Recipe
Spanish Almond Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 3 eggs , room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar (150 gr)
- 1 ½ cup almond meal (150 gr)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- zest of 1 clementine
- icing sugar , for dusting on top
Instructions
- Add eggs and sugar into a bowl and whisk until the mixture turns pale.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except for icing sugar and using a spatula, gently fold everything until well combine.
- Pour batter into a 7 inch (18 cm) springform pan that has been buttered and floured. Bake in a preheated oven at 360ºF (180ºC) for 40 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked.
- Cool completely. Place the Santiago cross cut out on top and dust generous amount of icing sugar all over the cake. Carefully remove the cut out. Slice and serve, enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Elise says
I have made this cake a few times and it never disappoints. I love the simple and delicious ingredients!
Bea & Marco says
That's awesome to hear, Elise! We're happy that you're loving it, thank you for your feedback!
Aarti says
You never disappoint Bae..just made this cake and it is heavenly. I used Almond flour though, because that’s what I had on hand ( because that’s what Costco sells lol). Added 25g more than the said quantity. I also used a stand mixer for whisking egg and sugar , on high setting for 5 minutes. The resulting mixture was very pale and the batter felt light and airy while pouring in the pan. I made it in a normal cake pan. The first slice was messy but after that it is easy to cut and serve. I always make your lemon loaf, lemon almond cake, but i think now this is my new favourite.
Chris says
great cake for the holidays.
gluten free
dairy free
i use allulose and or monkfruit to make low carb as well
i also use sliced blanched almonds before cooking
everyone loves this. its great with coffee...
i use almond flour btw. its really amazing. it does dry out quickly, eat it within 2days
Bea & Marco says
We're happy to hear that you liked it. Thanks for leaving your comment and sharing your version of the recipe, especially about the almond flour as somebody was asking about it. We have a healthy peach upside down cake that's also gluten-free, if you're interested. Happy holidays!
Batsheva Gillat says
Thank you for creating and posting this wonderful recipe.
We were in Spain a few times and LOVED this cake.
I would like to know if Almond Flour can be used instead of the Almond meal as suggested in your recipe.
I would LOVE to get your response.
Looking forward to your reply,
Batsheva
Bea & Marco says
Hi Batsheva! I'm sorry for the late response. Yes you can use almond flour but since the texture is more fine than almond meal, perhaps you'd need to add a bit more to get the consistency shown in the video. Hope it helps!
Richard says
Greetings from Singapore. I baked twice for friends' birthday and all enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing this foolproof recipe. A must to try.
Rosi says
El trabajo que me costó encontrar de nuevo tu receta. La guardé en favoritos y, por alguna razón no se me guardó. Pero el que la sigue, la consigue, como dice el refrán. Está suave y exquisita.Gracias por compartirla. Voy a hacerla para mañana.
Bea & Marco says
Estoy feliz que te haya encontrado esta receta de nuevo! Muchas personas han hecho esto y les encanto, espero que a ti tambien te encanta. Muchas gracias!
Margrit Delvoie says
It’s a delicious cake. I have made it several times a little different with what I extra added such as lemon and/or orange but we prefer the simple 3 ingredients way with just a few drops of vanilla extract.
Thanks for sharing this recipe.🙏🏽
Bea & Marco says
Yay! I'm happy that you're enjoying it, thank you for sharing your version of it, and of course your feedback ❤️.
Helen says
This cake was very easy to make! Delicious and moist. I made it almost 24 hours before I wanted to serve it (and wrapped it lighty with foil after it cooled) and it was still very nice. Two thoughts - I increased the amounts by 1/3 (which was so easy to do following the handy sugar/nuts/egg ratio - 187 gms each) but my guess is that the original recipe wud serve 6 people vs 8. I used a few drops of almond flavouring, the lemon zest, and orange zest vs clementine b/c: no clementine on hand. I'd definitely use buttered parchment paper at the bottom of the spring-form pan b/c it was hard to dislodge it and it wanted to break a bit. The surface also cracked quite a bit on the top as it cooled. Any suggestions? It didn't matter, however, b/c I covered it with icing sugar. I have been asked to make this again! Thanks!
Helen K says
p.s. That was a typo in what I said. I meant that I increased amounts by 1/4 not 1/3.
Bea & Marco says
Hi Helen! Sorry to hear that the cake cracked! Most probably it had to do with the oven temperature, it was too high. The cake rose too fast in the oven and retracted when it cooled down, hence the cracks. I use a portable oven thermometer all the time (if not my oven temperature would go off by 30-50 C). As for the portion, I guess it depends on the individuals. But since this cake is rich, 8 portions sounds great. Love to hear your variation on the cake and that you liked it! It's a traditional cake here in Spain. Thank you so much for leaving your feedback and your lovely comment, Helen!
Bonnie Adlam says
Easy and very delicious. I sprinkle chopped almonds and demera sugar on top before I bake it.
Marisa says
So easy and so delicious! Thanks!!
Amorn Thang says
Best simple recipe with best results and taste. Thank you very much for sharing.
translating-service.com says
Easy to understand, step by step explanation. Thanks
Bea says
Happy that you liked it, thanks!