Spanish Almond Cake Recipes

TARTA DE SANTIAGO (SPANISH ALMOND CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F and set aside a 9-inch round tart pan.
• In a big bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is foamy.
• Add the lemon zest, cinnamon, almond flavor, and almond flour.
• Mix everything very well.
• Butter the tart pan.
• Place the mixture in the pan and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
• Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool for few minutes, then dust it with powder sugar.

ORANGE AND ALMOND SPANISH CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F.
• Line a 23 cm spring-form tin on the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper.
• Keeping 1 tbsp of caster sugar aside for later, mix the egg yolks and sugar together until pale.
• Then add the almonds and zest.
• Beat the egg whites and remaining tablespoon of sugar until stiff.
• Carefully fold into the sugar-egg mixture, trying not to knock the air out of the whites.
• The egg yolk/sugar mixture will seem quite stiff at first, but keep folding in the egg whites and it will soon loosen up.
• Gently ease the batter into the lined tin.
• Place on the middle shelf of your oven and bake for 60-70 minutes until it is golden on top and firm to touch.
• While the torte is in the oven, make the syrup by placing the orange juice, lemon juice and cinnamon in a saucepan with a handful of sugar.
• Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for about five minutes.
• Taste.
• The syrup should be quite tart.
• Cool and place in the fridge.
• When the torte is ready, remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack before opening the springform tin.
• Transfer to a plate and pierce four small holes in the top of the cake.
• Pour half the syrup over the top and serve with the rest of the syrup on the side.
• If you are making the cake ahead of time, I usually wait until a few hours before serving to pour the syrup over.

ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Finely grind the almonds in a food processor.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a smooth pale cream. Beat in the zests and almond extract. Add the ground almonds and mix very well.
• 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, preferably nonstick, with butter and dust it with flour. Pour in the cake batter, and bake into a preheated 350°F for 40 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.

SPANISH ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Prep:1hr › Cook:55min › Ready in:1hr55min Put the chopped oranges in a small saucepan, discarding any pips. Add 1 tbsp water, then cover and cook gently for 30 minutes or until the oranges are soft and excess liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF, gas mark 4). Line the bottom and sides of a 23 cm (9 in) springform cake tin with baking parchment. Finely chop the oranges in a food processor or blender, or with a large knife. Put the egg whites in a large bowl and whisk until they form stiff peaks. Gradually whisk in half the caster sugar, then whisk for 1 minute. Using the same whisk, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining caster sugar in another bowl for 2-3 minutes or until pale and quite thick. Whisk in the finely chopped oranges, then carefully fold in the ground almonds.
• Stir in 3 spoonfuls of the whisked egg white to loosen the mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites with a large metal spoon. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and level the top. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
• Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Check the cake after 20 minutes and again at 30 minutes, and cover lightly with foil if it is browning too quickly. Leave the cake to cool in the tin, then turn it out, peel away the lining paper and transfer to a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar before serving. The cake can be kept in an airtight tin for up to 2 days.