Tarta de Santiago – Gluten-Free Cake from Spain

The “tarta de Santiago” or “tarta de Compostela” stems from the Spanish city Santiago de Compostela in the north west in the provence Galicia. It is a gluten-free almond cake, which was already served by Don Pedro de Portocarrero in 1577 when professors were ordained in the university of  Santiago de Compostela. This means this cake dates back centuries, originally it only contained almonds, sugar, and eggs. It was only later that additional ingredients were added. in 2006 the cake was geographically protected, it had to be made in the provence Galicia for it to deserve the name tarta de Santiago. Moreover, it needed to have a certain amount of almonds, sugar, and eggs and had to be dusted with icing sugar, leaving out the Jacob’s cross. Otherwise it is not a tarta de Santiago, see details here. When we had the chance to visit the city in summer 2025, we tried this cake right there and then, obviously. I immediately decided to make the cake while still on holiday. My brother-in-law (Spanish), declared this cake his new favorite. Today, Santiago’s name day, which is on July 25, I decided to publish the recipe for this delicious cake.

The main advantages of this cake? It only contains five ingredients: almonds, sugar, eggs, orange, and lemon. Just like sponge cake egg whites and egg yolks are beaten separately The high amount of almonds also reminds me of French macarons. I decided to moisten the cake with orange juice, more popular is alcohol such as brandy.  I also prefer the cake with roasted almonds, the flavor intenifies and the cake will get darker. However, it gets a bit more crumbly. As a comprise you may only roast about 100 grams of the almonds.

When we visited Santiago de Compostela of course we ate the tarta, which was offered in every cafe.

Print Recipe

Tarta de Santiago - Almond Cake from Spain

Prep Time: 30min – Cooking Time: 30-40min – Total Time: 1hr 10min

Tarta de Santiago is a gluten-free almond cake from Spain. It was already made in medival times and contains five ingredients. I intensify the flavor by roasting the almonds.

Ingredients

• 1 organic orange
• 1 organic lemon
• 250 grams of ground almonds
• 5 eggs
• 180 grams of regular sugar
• Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

1

First wash the orange and lemon under hot water, then zest both and also keep the orange juice.

2

Optional: roast the almonds (or about 100 grams) in a frying pan without fat on medium heat while stirring. The almond flavor will intensify and the cake will get darker in color. However, it will also get crumblier. Set aside to cool off. You can also skip this step and add the almonds later on.

3

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, line the bottom of a springform of 20-26cm with parchment paper (mine is 20cm).

4

Divide the eggs into egg yolks and egg whites in two different bowls. Add 100 grams of sugar to the egg yolks and keep the rest. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form, then add the remaining sugar and beat on high until you have stiff peaks. Without cleaning the mixer, now beat the egg yolks for a few minutes until pale in color and thicker in consistency. Add zests, almonds, and orange juice (you may replace the juice with alcohol such as brandy). Only beat until combined. Now fold in beaten egg whites in three steps. Try not deflate. Once combined, pour into prepared cake pan and bake on medium rack for about 30-40 minutes. An inserted toothpick should come out clean. As a rule of thumb, the higher the cake, the longer the baking time. Right befre serving, dust with icing sugar, leaving out the cross. I cut out a paper version I found in the Internet.

5

The tarta will keep for a few days if kept airtight and can be frozen. I recommend freezing before dusting with icing sugar.