José Pizarro’s Santiago Cake with PX Cream
Made with ground almonds, sugar and eggs, this light cake is a classic Spanish treat. With the addition of zesty lemon and orange, and a PX sherry whipped cream to serve, this cake won't last long.
Introduction
My partner Peter loves to bake, but I rarely have the patience myself – I find it too precise and measured. I always enjoy the results of his efforts, though! Tarta de Santiago is a classic recipe from Galicia, and also happens to be gluten-free and lactose free. I suppose everyone has their own version of the tarta. Peter says it’s a bit like Welsh cakes. (His mum used to make the best Welsh cakes – ‘It’s the secret ingredients, Peter,’ she’d say with a smile.) Peter experimented with different recipes to create the best tarta de Santiago he could, and this is the result: light, fluffy and moist (some versions can come out rather flat and biscuity). He served it at one of our lunches recently and it was a huge hit. The key is to use good-quality eggs, and to take extra care to fold rather than stir the ingredients. Peter serves the cake with a special PX whipped cream or ice cream – he sometimes even adds a dash of sherry vinegar. It’s really easy to make, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Ingredients
| olive oil, for greasing | |
| 150g (5oz/generous ⅔ cup) | caster (superfine) sugar |
| 4 | free-range eggs, separated |
| finely grated zest of 1 | orange |
| finely grated zest of 1 | lemon |
| few drops of | natural almond extract |
| 100g (3½oz/1 cup) | ground almonds |
| icing (confectioners’) sugar, to dust | |
| PX CREAM | |
|---|---|
| 250ml (8½fl oz/1 cup) | double (heavy) cream |
| 1 tbsp | caster (superfine) sugar |
| 2 tbsp | PX sherry |
Essential kit
You will need: a 23cm (9in) springform or loose-bottomed tin.
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/340°F/gas 3½. Grease and line a 23cm (9in) springform or loose-bottomed tin.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the zest and almond extract, then fold in the almonds.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold their shape. Mix 1 dollop of the egg whites into the almond mixture to loosen, then carefully fold in the rest. Scoop the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes until risen and lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the PX cream when you are nearly ready to serve. In a bowl, beat together the cream and sugar until the mixture is just holding its shape, then beat in the sherry and spoon into a bowl.
Once the cake is cold, the traditional decoration is a St James cross. The best way is to find an image of the cross online and print it out, then cut it out and place it on the top of the cake. Dust all over with icing sugar, and when you remove the paper, the cross will remain.
Serve the cake with the PX cream.
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