spanish Archives - Jenny is baking

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.

25/07/2025

Turrón de Maní or Peanut Nougat

Tada, today I’m introducing a specialty that actually comes from Spain and has been adapted in Latin America with local products: turrón. In Germany, we would probably call this nougat. Turrón traditionally consists of a honey-sugar syrup that is mixed with egg whites and almonds. This “paste” is then pressed into relatively flat bars and then cut into pieces or cubes. I use the version with peanuts (maní), which are much cheaper to buy in Uruguay and are also native to the country. The Uruguayans have simply replaced almonds with a local product: peanuts. Turrón basically comes in two varieties: “duro”, i.e. hard turrón, or “blando”, i.e. the softer verrsion. I opted for the hard version. You should definitely be prepared to take at least 45 minutes to make this delicacy and you will need some arm muscle. However, I think it’s well worth the effort.

22/12/2024

Classic Spanish Tortilla

This classic Spanish tortilla or tortilla de patatas should not be confused with tortillas from Mexico. Whereas Spanish tortillas contain mainly eggs and potatoes, Mexican consist of cornflour. You will find Spanish tortilla everywhere, each café or pub offers some, I believe it is something like the secret national dish. There are many variations out there, some are made with onions, others prefer without and you can fill them and include add-ons. I am going to introduce the classic version here including onions. This means five ingredients: potatoes, eggs, onions, olive oil, and salt. If you don’t count the salt, it is just four ingredients.

16/08/2024

Original Burnt Cheesecake from San Sebastian

Today you will get the best cheesecake from San Sebastian from the Basque country in the north of Spain. This tarta de queso is the same recipe as from the restaurant La Viña. It contains five ingredients: cream cheese, eggs, heavy cream, sugar, and a bit of flour. As the cake is baked at high heat (200-210 degrees Celsius), it has a caramelized (or burnt) surface and thus looks a lot like crème brûlée. Inside though it is extra creamy. As all ingredients only need to be mixed, it is pretty fool-proof and thus perfect for beginners. You may enjoy this cake plain or you can serve with some fruits and/or a fruit sauce. Below recipe is similar to the one from the restaurant, I only reduced the amount of sugar. Feel free to increase the amount if you wish to.

09/06/2023