torta de santiago
rating:this delicious almond torte originates in the medieval pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, the northwest part of Spain.
from revin-grrl.
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 lb almonds, finely ground
7 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp cinnamon
powdered/confectioner's sugar to garnish
cream the sugar, lemon rind, and egg yolks until the mixture is light and fluffy.
stir in the almonds and cinnamon.
beat the egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry.
stir a few tablespoons of the egg white into the almond mixture, then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
pour into 2 greased 8 inch layer pans and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until the cakes are well browned.
cool briefly, then remove the cakes from the pans.
you can garnish them in different ways, but the traditional way they do it in Santiago is to lay a paper Cruz de Santiago on the cake, dust the cake with powdered sugar, and then lift off the cross, leaving a brown cross in a field of white. It's beautiful that way, and I find that the frostings that are often suggested, as on the site from which I adapted this recipe, overpower the glory of the almonds too much. (Using this traditional method, you end up with two tortes. This can only be a good thing, to my mind; I don't know, if you want to only make one, if you'd go with 3 eggs, or 4, since this recipe calls for 7, which is not, you'll notice, divisable by two.)
