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tarta de santiago

S

simeon

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Lots done and more to do!
anybody got a recipe that works. Want to bring back the memories.......
 
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There isn't really a lot what you can mess up with a Tarta de Santiago, just follow a recipe and you will be fine. Buen Camino, SY
 
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If you want to decorate your home-made cake with the cross of St James, you can buy metal stencils from the ferreterias in Santiago, place on the top and dust cake with icing sugar.
 
hmmm well that was a fail
I divided all the ingredients x 5 it was just for me..... I think I overcooked it it wasn't as moist as I remember and it was risen in a peak.... Not looking good but edible which is a +
 
simeon said:
hmmm well that was a fail
I divided all the ingredients x 5 it was just for me..... I think I overcooked it it wasn't as moist as I remember and it was risen in a peak.... Not looking good but edible which is a +
Click to expand...
If you make it 5 times smaller it will cook much faster, as the heat will get to the center much faster.
 
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Try again and make a whole Tarta de Santiago........ and then freeze your leftovers.

I've frozen it in sections and it survives the process well! (I've also eaten it frozen and it's still delicious)
 
I've made the Epicurious version several times and it's delicious. See http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/almond-cake-366229. I found a cross of St. James online, enlarged it, printed it on card stock (any thick paper will do) and cut around it to make a stencil. If you push straight pins (sewing pins) halfway through the stencil, you can use the pins to anchor the cross to the cake while you dust it with powdered sugar AND as handles for lifting the stencil up from the cake cleanly after dusting.
 
gml said:
I've made the Epicurious version several times and it's delicious.
Click to expand...

This is my favorite one, too. It's great with vin santo in the evening and with coffee for breakfast. I use less sugar than the recipe calls for and use the same amount of almond flour (whole foods sells it in the big bins) to get a finer texture.
 
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I've been through lots of recipes but have never quite achieved that authentic taste as I rbemember it.

There was one from a British source which garnered lots of responses all eulogising it and proclaiming it the best ever. I won't tell you the site but it was particularly disappointing, tasting just like an overdone zest and egg cake rather than the almond-based tarta.

Here's my recipe after much experimentation, but it's still not quite there:

10 oz whole almonds (not blanched, and avoid buying meal if possible as it tends to be tasteless).

7 oz castor sugar

6 large eggs

Grated zest of small lemon and orange (don't overdo, see earlier warning)

Dash of almond essence

Half teaspoon of powdered cinnamon

Method:

Separate the egg yolks and whites

Grind the almonds fine.

Beat egg yolks with sugar until smooth, add almond extract, zest, cinnamon, and ground almond flour and mix well (note that mixture will be very stiff). Get a clean beater and beat egg whites until just starting to peak. Any more and you'll end up with a fluffy cake rather than a tarta.
Mix the beaten whites well into the mixture. Grease the bottom/sides of a spring form pan, cut a piece of greaseproof paper for the bottom and grease and dust it with flour.

Add mixture, cook in oven at 180 degrees C for around 30 to 35 minutes, before checking. Try not to overcook.

When it cools, dust with icing sugar. Incidentally, I bought the cross I use in two sizes at a hardware/kitchen supply store on a side street just near the Cathedral.

De colores

Bogong (still experimenting)
 
Bogong, maybe it is not perfect because you are separating the eggs. My first couple of attempts I did as you, separating the eggs, whipping the whites, etc, and it did not work at all.

Now all I do is throw all the ingredients in a bowl, mix roughly, pour into a lined tin, and quickly put it in the oven.

I am able to buy almond meal made out of roasted almonds, and I mix that with the normal stuff, plus a few almonds that I've crushed myself to give a bit more texture.
 
We find no need to make a smaller tarta, although if short of almonds I have halved the recipe. It doesn't dry out so no need for freezing it.
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Yes, I did try doing it that way but didn't think the texture came out quite right. I've got the texture pretty well perfect but there's something elusive about the taste I can't quite capture. Neither my wife nor my sister-in-law who pigged out on the stuff in Santiago think there's anything wrong but I'm still not happy. Perhaps the Spanish almonds have some elusive quality or maybe it's just my imagination gilding the lily. If I could (my wife is poorly) I would go back and check.

De colores

Bogong
 
A few drops of almond essence? Or amaretto liqueur? I also put some finely grated orange peel in mine.
 
considering how difficult it is ......
I think I will just have to go caminoing again!!!! Seems like the most logical thing to do
 
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My recipe has 4oz sugar, 5oz ground almonds, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, grated rind of 1 lemon and 2 eggs. That tastes about the same as the ones we have had in Santiago. It is a little smoother than some, but that could be helped by adding a little coarser ground almond. Cook until light golden brown
 
I understand it's more palatable if you stab it (the tarte) several times with a fork and pour Arujo into the wounds. You're also less likely to chip a bicuspid that way (voice of experience speaking here).
 
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There was a lovely young Korean lass who walked around the same time as me and about the same pace. We bumped into each other from time to time and met up in Santiago de Compostela.

We went for a meal and I ordered her a Tarta de Santiago which she didn't know about.

The Holy Grail for me is if I make one, give a bit to one of my friends and see the same look of absolute shock as they bite into it as I saw on the face of the Korean lass. Then I'll know I've finally got the taste right.

De colores

Bogong
 
This recipe works for me every time - just need to make sure you grease and flour the pan really well. It's wonderful served with double cream and a sherry!

Tarta de Santiago Recipe, a Spanish Almond Cake

Ingredients
1/2 pound (1 3/4 cups) ground almonds/almond meal
6 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Instructions
With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a smooth pale cream. Beat in the zests. Add the ground almonds and mix very well. (mixture will be very thick)

With clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so that you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).

Grease an 11-inch springform pan or tart dish with removable base, preferably nonstick, with butter and dust it with flour or spray with cooking spray. Pour in the cake batter, and bake into a preheated 350°F for 40-45 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch. Let cool before turning out.

Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. Or, if you like, cut a St. James cross out of paper. Place it in the middle of the cake, and dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, then remove the paper.
 
RNC said:
This recipe works for me every time - just need to make sure you grease and flour the pan really well. It's wonderful served with double cream and a sherry!
Tarta de Santiago Recipe, a Spanish Almond Cake
Click to expand...
Sved for this Xmas dinner for 40.

Any idea why this one works and others do not?

Thank you.
 
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Anemone del Camino said:
Sved for this Xmas dinner for 40.

Any idea why this one works and others do not?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

This is actually the first recipe I tried. I was very disappointed.To me it was just a zest and egg cake as the taste of these two ingredients overpowered everything else. It was far more a cake than the flat tarta I had in Galicia.

I must say that my family really liked this cake. But I honestly could not present it to them as a Tarta de Santiago, and they have liked my later efforts much more.

I think the cake-like texture was because the egg white was beaten too stiffly. Hence I started experimenting, adding more almond flour made from raw almonds not the anaemic pre-pakaged flour from the supermarket, a bit more almond essence, cutting back on the zest, also adding some powdered cinnamon and beating the egg white until just on the point of peaking, rather than stiff. I found also that 40 to 45 minutes was too long in my fan-forced oven and that it needed checking around the 30 minute mark.

Next, Kanga's amaretto seems a good idea although I'm not sure whether the inference was to drink it or to add it to the mixture!

But I'm sure that in Galicia they don't go to anything like this amount of trouble, so there's still a secret to be discovered somewhere.

But I guess it's each to his own!

De colores

Bogong (tonight's Portuguese tarts were not a great success)
 
Anemone del Camino said:
Sved for this Xmas dinner for 40.

Any idea why this one works and others do not?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

I make this regularly and find the recipe gets the right balance between the liquid (eggs) and the dry ingredients (almond meal). Others I've tried have tended to be too dry and hard and stuck to the pan badly. You cld add almond essence or adjust zest to suit your taste.

I would really emphasise preparing your tart pan well with greasing, dusting with flour and even some baking paper to ensure it comes out cleanly.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
Our Blue Mountains group makes hundreds of these, they are always delicious, and I'm sure they don't whip the egg whites. @Blaster what is Cee's recipe?
 
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Kanga said:
Our Blue Mountains group makes hundreds of these, they are always delicious, and I'm sure they don't whip the egg whites. @Blaster what is Cee's recipe?
Click to expand...
Was wondering exactly the same thing. Met Cee along the way earlier this year and she told me of her easy recipe that she worked out for making bulk tarte de Santiago.
 
The tarta de Santiago most of us eat for dessert in Spain at restaurants along the Camino uses almond meal rather than ground almonds. The price differential is usually enormous. I agree with those who say that the almond meal/flour makes for a rather tasteless cake, so my bet is that the commercial companies add almond flavoring.

The Epicurious recipe linked to by gml, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/almond-cake-366229 uses ground almonds, not almond meal, so the taste is likely to be different from what we are used to. In my experience, there is quite a difference between expensive tartas de Santiago like those sold in the store As Monxas or those made in pastelerías and the cheap ones sold on the streets of the Casco Histórico (all those stores with the women standing outside offering tastes). The eggs and sugar are the same, it's just the almond flavor that comes from very different sources. And then all the individual variation with lemon peel, cinnamon, etc. which may also change the taste.

I'll bet that we are so sensitive to these taste variations because of the strong connectdion between taste and memory -- and for most of us, the Tarta de Santiago brings up a LOT of memories.
 
There are almost as many recipes as there are pilgrims, most much better than those sold on the Camino. The only tricky part? Download a Cross of Saint James from the internet, cut it to size for your tarte, place on the finished cake while still warm and sprinkle powdered sugar, wait and when cooled sprinkle again. Tastes best with a mixture of powdered sugar and powdered vanilla sugar.
 
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Check out the almonds torte recipe at Epicurious. com. I think it is a perfect recipe, easy too. Better than the pre-packaged cakes you get in the tourist shops, really delicious! Buen provecho
 
SYates said:
There isn't really a lot what you can mess up with a Tarta de Santiago, just follow a recipe and you will be fine. Buen Camino, SY
Click to expand...


Right, follow the directions...be sure to blanch the almonds and remove the skins, which is time intensive but absolutely necessary.

Enjoy!
 
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I use Tia's recipe. It works every time for me and it's just the right size, not too big. This St James' day we had it just as it was, and with stewed plums from the garden with Greek yoghurt. I don't make it very often as it doesn't keep..... tee hee

I use a homemade paper template.
 
HedaP said:
Was wondering exactly the same thing. Met Cee along the way earlier this year and she told me of her easy recipe that she worked out for making bulk tarte de Santiago.
Click to expand...
I attended the cooking class in the Blue Mountains here is Ce's recipe.
Ingredients:
250 grams almond meal
250 grams of sugar
5 eggs
lemon zest
1 tbsp. icing sugar to sprinkle over cross outline
1 chunk unsalted butter to spread on the baking pan
1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
You can use a number of essences to give the cake a nice aroma, such as brandy, almond, cinnamon liqueur etc

1 round detachable flan baking pan 22 cm and a paper Santiago cross

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 160deg C (320F)
In a bowl pour the sugar, almond meal, cinnamon lemon zest and other essences used.
Mix ingredients with a fork.
Add the lightly beaten eggs and mix well with a spoon or spatula, but do not whisk, only ensure that all ingredients are mixed
Grease the baking pan with the butter and pour the mix in.
Bake in the 160 oven for about 50 mins or until lightly golden and centre firm.
When cold put paper cross on and sprinkle with sieved icing sugar. Remove cross carefully then enjoy.
 
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The recipe quoted by @Tigger has been used successfully for hundreds of tartas, made by many different people.
 
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Yay. Thank you. I've been kicking myself for not getting Cee's recipe when I had the opportunity.
 
I use the recipe in the wonderful cookbook by Yosmar Monique Martinez, "Tastes of the Camino".
www.whiskandspatula.com
 
Phillypilgrim said:
I use the recipe in the wonderful cookbook by Yosmar Monique Martinez, "Tastes of the Camino".
www.whiskandspatula.com
Click to expand...
It is exactly the same as the one I posted although slightly smaller...a 4/5 recipe ( 200 grams of sugar and almond flour , instead of 250and 4 eggs instead of 5) and there is a little salt.

I think this confirms it is the basic 'classic'.

It is a simple recipe and should not be overthought or overmixed.

It is just absolutely gorgeous.

( If you add two large oranges whole that have been boiled for a couple of hours and a little flour to soak up the orange juices and oils..it turns into the best flourless orange cake)
 
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Does anyone know how many servings this makes? I'm hosting my book club next month and want to make this for dessert. Maybe some Caldo Gallego for dinner too.
 
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