Santiago Day is an annual feast in honour of Saint James (Dia de Santiago) that is celebrated on the 25th of July. This celebration originally takes place in Galicia and other autonomous regions to honour the arrival of pilgrims. Each year, thousands of pilgrims walk hundreds of kilometres to complete their adventure at Santiago de Compostela.
On July 25th, pilgrims, tourists and Galicians, then come together for a feast to celebrate the completion of their journeys. The Galician feasts feature local Galician produce such as seafood, meats, and dairies. But most importantly, local bakers prepare a Tarta De Santiago as a welcome gift to those travellers. For this day, Chef Edward has prepared a wonderful menu that features his take on the Tarta De Santiago (Flourless Almond Cake).
This delicious Galician almond cake is naturally gluten free and has been named after St James (Santiago) himself. Although the origin of this cake is unclear, rumour has it that a Tarta de Santiago is usually offered to the pilgrims once they have walked the Camino.
Its worth the walk! The best part is, a Tarta de Santiago uses very little ingredients and is so easy to make! Which means, you don’t have to walk 100 kilometres just to try this beautiful dessert. You can make it at home or come down to My Little Spanish Place and try Chef Edward’s take of this Tarta de Santiago.
A Tarta de Santiago is mainly made with almonds, eggs, sugar, and lemon. There are two methods used:
1. Mix the dry ingredients and then gradually add the eggs
2. Beat the eggs while adding the sugar and add the dry ingredients after.
It’s that easy! But the best part is that some gluten free cakes can turn out a bit heavy on the texture and surprisingly that’s not the case here. This might be due to the combination of sugar and eggs giving it a fluffier texture.
If you’re feeling a little bit adventurous, book a reservation and walk on down to My Little Spanish Place to enjoy this lovely treat or you can watch the video below of Chef Edward and try his take on the Tarta de Santiago at home!
TARTA DE SANTIAGO (Flourless Almond Cake)
INGREDIENTS
300g ground almonds
90 grams crushed almonds (toppings)
6 large eggs
200g caster sugar
90g melted unsalted butter (a bit extra for baking pan)
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon of baking powder
(Optional) Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat your oven to 160C or 320°F
Grease an 8-inch springform pan (or tart pan preferably nonstick) with butter then dust with flour or spray with cooking spray.
With an electric mixer or a wire whisk , beat the eggs and add sugar until you get a smooth pale cream.
Add the melted butter, vanilla and zest of lemon and orange, finally add the ground almonds with a teaspoon of baking powder and mix very well.
Pour in the cake batter and sprinkle almond flakes on top
Bake into a preheated 160C or 320°F oven for 40-45 minutes or until it feels firm to the touch.
Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pan.
Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners’ sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream or salted caramel on the side.
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Now, you can share your Tarta De Santiago with your loved ones and let us know what you think! Don’t be shy to share pictures of your beautiful cake on our Facebook or Instagram page or write a comment! We would love to hear about your experience. We can’t wait to see it!
If you want to find out more about Santiago De Compostela or other routs taken by pilgrims you can visit this Camino De Compostela website and start your journey today!
Thank you
My Little Spanish Place
