St. James' Cake - Tarta de Santiago

By LRay

Cabrini's Celtic Kitchen 2015. Recipe from Galacia.

This delicious almond cake is named in honour of Santiago, St. James, the patron saint of Spain. The feast day of St. James is celebrated nationally ever July 25. His remains are buried in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. During the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage to Santiago was the most important pilgrimage of the Christian world. Today, many people still make the trip to Santiago, not just for religious reasons, but as a cultural, historical or active vacation. The cake's origin is not certain, but a pilgrim may have brought it to Galicia. Today, this cake is sold all over Santiago de Compostela and is popular with tourists and pilgrims.

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 c. ground almonds
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 8 tbsps. butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup water
• zest of 1 lemon
• icing sugar to decorate

Details

Adapted from belleandchic.com

Preparation

Step 1

Blanch the almonds, then using a grinder or a food processor, grind the almonds until fine and set aside. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a round eight-inch pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together. Add the butter, flour, baking powder and water, and beat until thoroughly mixed. Stir the almonds into the batter. Grate the lemon and add the zest and stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake in oven on the middle shelf at 350°F for approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Check for doneness after 45 minutes. Cake is done if a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. The traditional way to decorate is to sprinkle icing sugar on top, with a cut-out of St. James or a cross on top. To create a cross, use any clean piece of paper folded and cut out a cross. Then, after the cake has cooled, lace the cross in the centre of the cake and dust the top with powdered sugar. A small flour sifter works well for the job. The St. James' cake recipe serves approximately eight.