Torta de Santiago Recipe
The Torta is a delicious, lemon infused sponge cake. Even with a pound of ground up almonds inside, lemon is the overriding flavor, giving this cake a refreshing taste. Straight out of the oven, the outside crust is nice and crunchy and the inside crumb is, well, spongey. After a few days marinating, the crust has a more chewy texture, but on the whole the cake does well super fresh or after a couple days.
Servings: 9 Servings
Calories: 471kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb 500g blanched almonds (about 3 cups)
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 7 eggs
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
- confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Butter a 9 inch springform pan.
- Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast briefly just until their aroma is released, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate, let cool, and then place in a blender or food processor with a few tablespoons of the granulated sugar. Process until finely ground.
- In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour, ground almonds and lemon zest. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and prick the top of the cake with a fork. Sprinkle with the lemon juice. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before releasing the sides of the pan.
- After the cake is fully cooled, transfer to a serving plate and dust top with confectioners’ sugar just before serving. This is traditionally decorated in the shape of St. James’ Cross, but is equally yummy if dusted evenly over the whole cake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 471kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 185mg | Sodium: 75mg | Sugar: 67g
