Tender Almond Cake

Recipe from Salvatore Messina

Adapted by David Tanis

Updated March 3, 2026

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1 hour, plus cooling
Rating
4(906)
Comments
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A delightfully tender almond cake that’s quite easy to put together, this recipe is from an old friend, Salvatore Messina. Everyone adores it. Since it has some similarity to other Italian almond cakes, I naturally assumed it to be his family’s, passed down from his Sicilian grandmother. But it turned out to have no Italian storyline. Sal adapted it from a recipe for tarta de Santiago, the traditional almond cake from Galicia, Spain, using less sugar, more orange zest and no cinnamon. It’s heavenly. —David Tanis

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Ingredients

Yield:10 servings

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, for greasing the pan

  • 8 ounces/227 grams blanched almonds

  • 6 large eggs, separated

  • 1 ¼ cups/250 grams granulated sugar

  • 1 orange, zested

  • 1 lemon, zested

  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract

  • Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

33 grams carbs; 115 milligrams cholesterol; 297 calories; 9 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 16 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 48 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 29 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter.

  2. Step 2

    Pulse almonds a few times in a food processor, then grind them, until they become a coarse meal, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

  3. Step 3

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. (Alternatively, use a large bowl and a hand mixer.) Beat in ground almonds, zests and almond extract until incorporated. Transfer mixture to another bowl and thoroughly wipe out stand mixer bowl or clean out the large bowl. (You don’t want any egg yolk present, as they can inhibit the whipping of the egg whites.)

  4. Step 4

    In the clean bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks on medium-high speed, 1 to 2 minutes. Incorporate the whites into the egg-sugar-almond mixture until no white streaks remain, then spread into the prepared pan.

  5. Step 5

    Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, indicating the cake is cooked.

  6. Step 6

    Cool in the pan on a rack. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, and transfer to a serving platter. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
906 user ratings
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Comments

Helen

Could you use almond meal rather than grinding the blanched almonds?

John

I would beat the egg whites first. Then beat the yolks, almonds, butter, etc. bowl and beater must be clean for egg whites but not so much for the rest

Olga

A little historical note: This cake from Galicia is actually called the "tarta" de Santiago and not torta is we say here in Italia. It derives it's name from the imprint of the cross of St. James on the top of the tarta that is made by using a stencil of the cross and dusting with powdered sugar. The original recipe that I have is from a bakery in Portomarìn and uses 200 grams of almond flour which in the States can be almond meal.

Darryl Rehr

I should have looked up my question before asking it here. Both Google's AI and Claude agree... zest only.

Darryl Rehr

May I assume you mean "Zest of 1 orange" and "Zest of 1 lemon?"

Yohannah

Lovely cake. I substituted almond flour at the same weight because I needed to use it up and it was fine. The cake is sweet. I recommend decreasing the amount of sugar. I have a gas convection oven and it was done in 25 minutes. I’ll bake on a lower temp like 325 next time.

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