Lazy Genius Tarta de Santiago aka Orange Almond Cake
One of our family's favorite things to do is go to a bakery and get a bunch of items (twist my arm). About a year ago, we were at a new one, and as everyone was picking stuff out, Kaz noticed this little round cake that was way more expensive than everything else. Intrigued, he ordered it to see what all the fuss was about. When he said it was an almond cake, I was a hard pass. Raw almonds are meh. Chocolate-covered almonds are fine. Almond extract is suspect, and I vehemently hate marzipan. When it comes to dessert, almond stuff is low on the list.
Well, he took a bite and started moaning. Dude, calm down, we're in a bakery. He said, "You have to try this." I begrudgingly did because I love him blah blah blah. Then I started moaning. It was the weirdest thing. Where did this little almond cake come from?!
Turns out, Spain. It's called Tarta de Santiago, and after that day at the bakery, I set out to make it at home. As I do, I tried several online recipes and then created my own based on what I wanted. Now, I eat this almost every day. Truly. I make a pan pretty much every week and eat it for breakfast, afternoon snack, nighttime dessert... I'm obsessed. Plus, the hands-on time is maybe five minutes? The batter is ready before the oven is even preheated. Magical I tell you.
It's also naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, which is not something I personally pursue or care about, but holy moly it doesn't even matter. Plus, I love having this in my back pocket to make for a crowd so that everyone can enjoy breakfast/brunch/dessert. You will love it.
Kendra's Version of Tarta de Santiago
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (200 g) sugar
the zest of one lemon
the zest of one orange
4 large eggs
2 cups (224 g) almond flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. For real, don't forget this because the batter will be ready before the oven is.
Pour the sugar into a medium bowl. Zest the lemon and orange into that bowl with a microplane or some other tiny zester. Using your fingers, work the zest into the sugar to release all that good citrus flavor.
Add the four eggs to the sugar, and whisk together until the tiniest bit fluffy, maybe a minute. All by hand. No hand mixer required. Just do it until your arm gets tired.
Now grab a silicone spatula, and gently stir in the almond flour, cinnamon and salt. I like to weight the almond flour on top of the egg-sugar mixture, sprinkle the cinnamon and salt on top of that, and then loosely combine those three dry ingredients together before getting really heavy-handed with the spatula. Gently stir only until everything looks combined. The less you fidget with it, the better, but also don't stress out. It's just cake.
Get a pie plate (I use glass), spray it with cooking spray or something, and then pour the batter into the dish. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown, the top is just beyond pale, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You can also tap on the top with your finger. If it springs back, you're done. If it doesn't, check it every two minutes until it does.
Let it cool completely, and then serve wedges of it whenever you want something sweet but filling. Or eat it out of the pan like I do. That's one way to keep for yourself.
