Cakes, Pastries & Pies > Spain > Tarta de Santiago >
Tarta de Santiago
Cake of St. James
2-2/3 C ground almonds
3/4 C flour
1-1/4 C sugar
4 eggs
8 TBS (1 cube) butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C water
Zest of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar to decorate
To blanch almonds: Place almonds in a bowl; cover almonds with boiling water. Allow to sit for one minute; drain, rinse under cold water and then drain again. Pat almonds dry and remove skins. To grind almonds: Add almonds to a blender or food processor; grind until almonds are fine and set aside.
Heat oven to 350-degrees F; grease a round 8-inch spring-form pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar together. Add butter, flour, baking powder and water; beat with an electric hand mixer. Stir almonds into the batter; add lemon zest and stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for about forty-five to fifty minutes. Cake is done if a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool. Place a cut-out of the sword of St. James or other cross on top of cake; dust with powdered sugar to create cross. Remove cutout before slicing sand serving.
Note: To create your own cross for the cake, use a clean piece of paper folded in fourths to cut out a cross. After cake has cooled, place cross in the center of cake and dust top with powdered sugar.
History Note: Tarta de Santiago originates from the Middle Ages, made distinctive with the Cross of St. James (Cruz de Santiago) on top.
*Tarta de Santiago image (C) Poniol60 (2006). Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, a freely licensed media file repository.
Related Link:
Food Fare Culinary Collection: Savory Spain
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