Tarte de Santiago
This cake is not just yummy; I baked it for a reason. This week in Social Studies I've been studying about the Reconquista in Spain and how the city Santiago de Compostela largely contributed in starting it. Whether it is fact or legend, it is known that James' (the one who wrote the Book of James in the New Testament) bones were found in the city. From then on, pilgrims from the middle ages and the present time have been walking to Santiago de Compostela.
This cake has something to do with that because it is sold all over Santiago de Compostela to welcome the pilgrims. The cross symbol in the middle of the cake is St. James' cross symbol. The cake comes with this symbol traditionally, and so I did it too by printing out a template, cutting it out, and laying the stencil on the cake when I dusted it with powdered sugar.
One other thing about this cake is that it probably is an advanced version of a passover cake that Jews brought to Galicia while fleeing Andalucia in the 12-13 centuries. Well, I am so glad that I am able to learn more about history through baking! The interesting thing is that I was able to find a blog post on this cake just after I studied about Santiago de Compostela, and I didn't do it on purpose.
Anyways, even though this cake contains no flour or butter at all, it is surprisingly fluffy with a little bit of a nutty texture and citrus flavour. I will probably be baking this easy cake again!
Tarte de Santiago (Makes one 8-inch cake) Ingredients -155g blanched whole almonds -4 eggs, separate yolks and whites -155g castor sugar -zest of one + 1/4 lemon -powdered sugar for dusting Instructions 1. I used whole almonds with skins, so I removed the skins by pouring boiling water over the almonds in a bowl and letting stand for a few minutes. Then I drained the almonds, slipped the skins off with my fingers, and dried them with paper towels. This is a new thing I learned! 2. Butter an 8-inch spring form pan and line it with parchment paper. 3. Grind the almonds in a food processor until fine but don't grind them into paste. 4. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a hand-mixer until pale and thick. 5. Add the lemon zest and stir with a wooden spoon. Then add the almonds and stir until well-incorporated. The mixture will be quite stiff. Preheat your oven at this point to 180 degrees C. 6. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites with a hand-mixer until stiff peaks form. 7. Drop a spoonful of the meringue into the almond mixture and fold with the spoon. 8. Pour all of the almond mixture into the meringue and fold with spoon until no streaks or lumps remain and everything is well-combined. However, try not to deflate the batter. 9. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top browns too much during baking, cover with aluminum foil and move pan to bottom rack. 10. Immediately remove cake from pan and transfer to a plate by turning it upside down, removing the bottom pan, then reverting it upright onto a plate. 11. Use a paper stencil of the cross symbol from the internet and lay it on top of the cake. Dust with powdered sugar using a fine sieve and remove stencil. Enjoy! Recipe adapted form Poires au Chocolat: http://www.poiresauchocolat.net/2012/07/tarta-de-santiago.html