Tarta de Santiago
An easy Spanish dessert built around ground almonds, orange and almond extract — roughly 60 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Below: the ingredients split into pantry staples and a quick shopping list, a built-in serving scaler, and the method in 6 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and whisk. At medium difficulty across 6 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (3)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Heat the oven to 180C and grease a 23cm round springform tin with butter, then line the base with parchment so the delicate cake releases cleanly.
- Crack the eggs into a large bowl with the caster sugar and whisk for 3 to 4 minutes until pale, thickened and noticeably increased in volume.
- Finely grate the zest of the lemon and orange into the eggs, add the almond extract, cinnamon and a pinch of salt, then fold in the ground almonds until you have a thick, even batter with no dry pockets.
- Pour into the prepared tin, level the top and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and just firm, when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then release and cool completely on a rack, as the cake is fragile while warm.
- Lay a paper template of the Cross of Saint James over the centre, dust the whole surface generously with icing sugar, then lift the template away to reveal the cross before serving.
You'll use: Oven · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
- Lemon
- lime · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar per lemon
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
What to serve with Tarta de Santiago
- Seafood fideuà Seafood
- Spanish Tortilla Vegetarian
- Roast fennel and aubergine paella Vegan
- Migas Miscellaneous
Tips & common questions
How long does Tarta de Santiago take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 6 steps and 10 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of eggs?
Try ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Tarta de Santiago vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Tarta de Santiago is an original Spanish recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Tarta de Santiago- jlastras.jpg by Javier Lastras from España/Spain, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.