Santiago tarts and other related items...

If you ever find yourself in Galicia, in the northwestern corner of Spain, you'll probably wander the cobbled streets of its small towns, where pescaderias display octopus propped up in the windows, tentacles twisting to display pinky white suction cups, tapering as the arms reach towards the glass. Along the same streets, full of sunlight and pedestrians, are bakeries with deep window shelves proudly displaying the Tarta de Santiago. It's yellowish, round surface will be dusted in a snow of powdered sugar, and it will most likely be resting atop a paper doily. Its presentation, along with its price tag will tell you that this is something special.

And it is special. It is an especialidad of Galician bakeries, touted on Spanish restaurant menus next to the arroz con leche and the crema catalan. Galicians use powdered sugar to brand it with the cross of St James, a dagger-like cross with fleur-de-liz tips. In misty, mountainous, Celtic, impoverished Galicia, where old people toil by hand in their fields and store crops in stone drying houses, both the cross and the tart are ubiquitous, symbols of its most famed city: Santiago de Compostela.

Yes, people walk five hundred miles for a slice. It's that good.

Wait, what? Walk five hundred miles? We need to hear more about this at some point...

But really, how many people want to walk five hundred miles for a slice of cake when you can make it right in your own kitchen? It's easy. Six or seven ingredients, forty five minutes in the oven, and you'll have a piece of soft, heavenly, gluten-free tradition to enjoy with your coffee. 

Here's how you can do it: you can click here for a complete recipe. Pictures of an actual baking adventure follow below...

First, you'll need almonds - about a cup and a half. Let them sit in boiled water for about two minutes, then drain them, pat dry and slip their skins off. 

Easy.

Then grind the almonds finely, into what's basically a flour. Almond flour is easy to come across in Europe, but not seen often on American shelves, so this is a handy trick to keep up your sleeve. A food processor should do it nicely.

Gorgeous.

Right. Egg yolks and sugar:

Whipped together into a light coloured creamy goo:

Add the almond flour

Whip the egg whites into stiff peaks (which takes much longer than your home ec teacher told you) and then fold into the almond mixture

And bake. Voila! A delicious Tarta de Santiago. 

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The above does not look exactly like the famous tarts in Santiago de Compostela. It lacks the distinctive cross dusted in powdered sugar, but it definitely tastes just as good as the real deal. And you didn't even get a blister from walking across the entire Iberian peninsula! 

Well done, you.

Coming soon: more on the Camino de Santiago.