tarta de santiago: spanish almond cake

Tarta de Santiago or Spanish Almond Cake is a dense sweet cake that is served to pilgrims upon their reaching their destination on the Camino, the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. According to sources such as Bake From Scratch, a cake called tarta real or royal cake, was originally eaten at journey’s end since the 16th century. No description of that cake but a cake-eating tradition was definitely established. However, a recipe for the pilgrim’s almond cake did not appear until 1838.

The cake comes together very quickly, with no leavening, in a bowl with a whisk. Just eggs, sugar, almond flour, and a bit of vanilla and almond extracts added. It’s not very tall; just an inch to inch-and-a-half in height, and bakes in only 38 minutes. I did reduce the sugar 25% as there is demerara sugar in the topping. This is the fourth almond cake I have made thus far and the first one without wheat flour. As I said, it is dense, so if you prefer a lighter cake, I recommend David Lebovitz’s Almond Cake. Other almond cakes to try in the series include Amanda Hesser’s Almond Cake or the WaPo One Bowl Almond Cake.

Tarta de Santiago (courtesy RoseMarie Antonacci-Pollock, Bake and Tell Facebook Group)

Yield: one 9-inch cake

Time: 1 hour including prep and baking

240g granulated sugar (I reduced it 25% to 180g)

3 large eggs plus 3 large egg whites (90g)

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g blanched almond flour (sometimes called almond powder)

35g demerara or turbinado sugar (can use 5g more or to taste)

35g sliced almonds (can use 5g more or to taste)

Heat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C. Place the rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease the bottom and sides of one 9-inch baking pan with butter. Line bottom with parchment paper and flip it over to grease the second side.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, whole eggs, egg whites, salt, almond and vanilla extracts. Whisk vigorously until thoroughly combined, about 30-45 seconds. The mixture should look a little frothy on top but the sugar will not dissolve completely. Add the almond flour all at once and whisk until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top followed by the demerara sugar. Bake until the top becomes dark brown and crusty, about 38 minutes. Touch the top lightly with your fingertip. The center will feel firm rather than springy.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Run a thin blade around the edges to loosen the cake. Let the cake cool in the pan 30 minutes. Put a 12-inch plate on top and invert the cake. Remove the cake pan and the parchment from the cake bottom. Put a serving plate on top and flip the cake over onto the serving plate, so that the almond-sugar topping is right-side up. The cake tastes best when it is thoroughly cooled.

Baker’s Afterthought: Next time, I will try baking this cake in an 8-inch cake pan to get a taller cake. This will probably add 5 minutes to the baking time.

marry me chicken!

This is Somebody Feed Phil’s favorite exclamation to the cook on eating something delicious: “Marry me!” This dish is deserving of the accolade; the sauce has a complex layered flavor. The first taste is of the tomato, then the smoothness and slight sweetness of cream, the tang of Parmesan cheese, and the saltiness of oven-dried tomatoes. I’m glad I increased the tomato paste and the oregano, but reduced the chopped dried tomatoes as they were salty. I couldn’t taste the bite of red chili flakes so I would ramp it up next time. And there will be a next time.

Marry Me Chicken (adapted from NY Times Cooking)

Time: 1 hour from prep to table

Yield: 3-6 servings

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1-2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 cup low-salt chicken broth or stock (I used 1/2-mushroom bouillon cube)

1/2-cup heavy cream plus up to 1/4-cup more, as needed

1/2-cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4-cup oven-dried tomatoes in oil, coarsely chopped (that’s what I had on hand; the original recipe says to use sun-dried tomatoes), plus more if needed

Prepare the chicken. Starting from the thick end, slice the chicken breast in half horizontally, keeping your fingers up and away from the knife blade. You will end up with two cutlets. Repeat with the other two chicken breasts. Now you will have 6 cutlets. Season both sides of each cutlet with salt and pepper, sprinkling pinches of it from about 8-inches about the cutlet.

Sprinkle the flour in a pie plate and lightly coat each cutlet, shaking off the excess flour. Place the floured cutlets in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper.

Cook the chicken cutlets. Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot but not too hot, reduce heat to medium and add the butter. It will sputter if the oil is too hot. As the butter melts, add the cutlets and cook until golden on one side, about 3-4 minutes. Turn and cook on the second side another 3-4 minutes. Add more oil if needed. Transfer cutlets to the baking tray lined with paper towels.

Make the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and cook the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste, stirring to combine, about 2 minutes. Add the oregano and red pepper flakes to taste. Increase heat to medium, add the stock or broth, and let the mixture come to a simmer. Scrape up the fond or browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Cook until the liquid in the pan thickens and is reduced by half, about 4-5 minutes.

Add 1/2- cup of cream to start until it is warmed through. If more sauce is needed, add an additional 1/4 cup of cream. Stir until the cream is incorporated and the sauce thickens. Keep the sauce on a very low simmer. Do not boil. Stir in the Parmesan and the chopped oven-dried/sun-dried tomatoes. Taste the sauce. It should be creamy and tomato-ey. Add more chopped dried tomato if needed. No additional salt is needed. Return the chicken to the sauce and cover the pan to warm the cutlets, about 4 minutes. Spoon sauce over the cutlets. Serve immediately.

Serving Suggestion: mashed cauliflower, kale chips, and fresh tomato chunks.

grape-nut ice cream

Grape Nut Ice Cream is simply a vanilla ice cream with grape nut cereal added in. This is my favorite ice cream for it is popular in Jamaica. According to Wikipedia, it is also popular in the Canadian Maritimes, New England, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Shenandoah Valley. For this recipe I adapted Kitchen Aid’s French Vanilla Ice Cream. It uses 8 egg yolks which are cooked in sugar and half-cream or half-and-half. Do not attempt to reduce the sugar as freezing reduces the sweet taste of ice cream. I have suggested following David Lebovitz’s recommendation to add 3 tablespoons vodka to the ice cream mixture to prevent the ice cream from freezing solid, so it is easier to scoop. However, the vodka is optional. In parentheses are the measurements for a half-recipe. Note: this recipe uses the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker.

Grape Nut Ice Cream

Yield: approximately 1 quart; 1 1/2 pints for half-recipe

Time: 15 minutes to prepare ingredients, 8 hours to chill mixture, 15-20 minutes to churn, 6 hours to freeze

Ingredients

590g (295g)n]half-and-half (half cream)

8 (4) egg yolks

234g (117g) sugar

590g (295g) whipping cream (minimum 30% milk fat_

20g (10g) vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt (pinch of salt)

3 tablespoons (1 1/2-tablespoons) vodka, optional

2/3-cup (1/3 cup) grape nuts cereal

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the half cream until very hot to the touch, but do not boil. Stir often to prevent a skin from forming. Remove from heat and pour into a large measuring cup with a spout. Set aside. Do not wash out the pot.

In the mixing bowl of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, add the eggs yolks and the sugar. On speed Level 2, mix for 30 seconds until well blended, scraping down the sides. Mixture will look grainy and slightly thickened. With the mixer continuing to run, gradually pour in the half cream mixture, mixing until thoroughly combined. Return the mixture to the unwashed pot and heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pot. Do not boil. Transfer mixture to a large bowl that has a cover, and stir in the whipping cream vanilla, salt, and vodka, if using. Don’t add the grape nuts at this time. Cover the bowl and chill for at least 8 hours.

Before churning the ice cream mixture, the KA ice cream maker should be in the freezer for at least 36 hours. Now this mixture with add-ins overflowed the bowl when I churned the ice cream, so I recommend making the ice cream in two batches or reducing the mixture amount by half. If you churn the mixture in two batches you will have to re-freeze the ice cream maker bowl and chill the left over liquid ice cream mix until you are ready to churn the remainder.

On the day you will freeze the ice cream, assemble the ice cream maker. Place the dasher in the bowl and slide the drive assembly onto the beater shaft. Turn on the machine to Level 1. Pour the ice cream mixture into a pitcher or a large measuring cup with a spout. While the machine is turning, pour in the ice cream mixture into the ice cream maker bowl. Continue churning on Level 1 for 15-20 minutes until the ice cream thickens and freezes. Five minutes before the ice cream is ready, add the grape nuts cereal. Transfer to a lidded container and place in the freezer for at least 6 hours before serving.

banana-date bread

For two weeks I’d been collecting overripe bananas (so of course I was going to make banana bread), when my sister-in-law gifted me a packet of dates. By themselves, dates are sticky-sweet, but put them in a banana bread and they do their little magic, adding moisture and a subtle fruity flavor. So I divided the batter between two smaller loaf pans, just to share the love–and the calories.

Banana-Date Bread (adapted from taste.com.au)

Yield: 1 9-inch loaf

Ingredients

2 cups/300g self-rising flour*

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

125g dates, pitted and chopped fine

1/2-cup/115g superfine sugar

1 cup/250ml half-and-half (aka half cream)

2 large eggs

1 cup/232g very ripe bananas, mashed

Special Equipment: one 9-inch/24cm loaf pan, or two 6.5-inch loaf pans plus 3 cupcakes

*1 cup self-rising flour = 120g all-purpose flour+1 1/2-teaspoons baking powder+1/4 teaspoon salt. If you are making your own self-rising flour, you will need 3 cups or 360g all-purpose flour. You will have left over self-rising flour.

Heat oven to 350˚F/175˚C. Generously butter the pan and line the length with parchment. Leave about 2-inch overhang on both ends so that you can lift out the bread.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and nutmeg. Stir in the dates and the sugar. Use a silicone spatula to break up the bits of dates that are stuck together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine half-and-half, eggs, and mashed banana. Fold the banana mixture into the flour-date mixture. Scrape into the prepared loaf pan. Place the smaller pans with cupcakes on a baking tray as it will be easier to put in and take out of the oven. Bake 45-50 minutes (35-40 minutes for the smaller loaf pans; 10-20 minutes for the cupcakes). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pans 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove the loaves from the pans and place on the wire rack directly to cool completely. Slice and serve, spread with butter or cream cheese.