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(918)
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
918 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.

Lisa

Delicious! I will happily make this again. Instead of beating the egg yolks first and then carefully cleaning the bowl to beat the egg whites, I just beat the egg whites first and set them aside and then did the egg yolks without cleaning the bowl in between. I also reduced the sugar to 200 grams and it was plenty sweet. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I found grinding the almonds to be simple and it created a nice texture that I haven't gotten from using almond meal in other cakes.

Juliet Jones

Google a photo of “Tarta de Santiago”, you’ll see it has a cross shape on the top. Copy this cross onto a piece of white paper, cut it out, place on top of the cake, dust with icing sugar, and then remove the paper to reveal the shape.

Juliet Jones

I forgot to say that I made it today for friends who are going to walk the "Camino de Santiago" this summer. I followed the recipe exactly, and cooked it for 40 minutes. It looked very pretty, with the cross shape on top, but it turned out very moist, almost too moist. Not very "cake" like. Is it supposed to be like this?

Darryl Rehr

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

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