Tarta de Santiago (Spanish almond cake)

Tom Shingler
Head of food, delicious.

Published: 19 May 25
Updated: 28 May 25

Tarta de Santiago is a traditional almond cake from Galicia in northwest Spain and can be dated right back to the Middle Ages. It’s an incredibly simple yet ridiculously tasty combination of almonds, eggs and sugar, flavoured with citrus zest and cinnamon and decorated with the St James cross.

Naturally gluten-free: This flourless and butter-less cake is made with ground almonds and oil, making it a great option for anyone who can’t eat gluten and/or dairy.
Make ahead: The cake will keep, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Traditional decoration: If you want to give your cake the authentic cross on top, search for ‘Cross of St James’ on Google Images, print one out, cut it out, then use as a stencil when dusting over the icing sugar.

Baking doesn’t have to be a challenge: browse more easy cake recipes.

Serves 6-8
Prep time 15 min. Cook time 35 min, plus cooling

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Ingredients

Vegetable oil to grease
4 medium eggs
About 200g ground almonds
About 200g caster sugar
Finely grated zest 1 lemon
Finely grated zest 1 orange
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Icing sugar to dust

Specialist kit

23cm cake tin (not loose-bottomed)

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the cake tin. Crack the eggs into a bowl on some scales to weigh the exact amount (it will be around 200g). You’ll need the same amount of ground almonds and caster sugar, so weigh those out too (but keep them separate).
Put the ground almonds in a non-stick frying pan over a low heat. Heat, stirring regularly, until the almonds begin to smell toasty and darken slightly in colour. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the citrus zests, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Leave to cool.
In a separate bowl, use an electric whisk to beat the eggs until foamy. Start gradually adding the sugar, whisking constantly, then whisk for another 3 minutes until pale and thick. Gently stir in the almonds, then transfer to the lined cake tin.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool until just warm before removing from the tin.
Dust the top generously with icing sugar, with the stencil in place if you’re using it. Slice and serve.

Recipe from June 2025 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 298kcals
Fat: 17g (1.8g saturated)
Protein: 8.9g
Carbohydrates: 27g (26g sugars)
Fibre: 2.8g
Salt: 0.1g

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Tarta de Santiago (Spanish almond cake)

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Or, how about...?

Papas arrugadas con mojo

Spanish meatballs (albóndigas)

Traditional pisto (Spanish vegetable stew)

Spanish migas with fried eggs

Rebujito (Spanish sherry cocktail)

Tinto de verano (Spanish red wine cocktail)

More to discover