Tarta de Santiago

Tarta de Santiago is a traditional Galician almond cake made from almonds, sugar and eggs, distinguished by a dusting of icing sugar bearing the Cross of the Order of Santiago. The specification requires almonds to account for at least 33 % of the total weight of the mix, and production and packaging must take place within the Autonomous Community of Galicia.

About this designation

Registered as a PGI on 3 July 2007 under file number PGI-ES-0616 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013889), Tarta de Santiago is produced exclusively within the Autonomous Community of Galicia. The specification defines three mandatory ingredients for the cake without a base: almonds at a minimum of 33 % of the total weight of the mix, refined sugar (sucrose) at a minimum of 33 %, and eggs at a minimum of 25 %. The almonds must have a fat content of more than 50 % measured in the untrimmed product; Mediterranean varieties including 'Comuna', 'Marcona', 'Mollar', 'Largueta' and 'Planeta' are identified as those normally used. Additional permitted ingredients are lemon zest, icing sugar, sweet wine, brandy or grape marc. Where a base is included, it must not account for more than 25 % of the weight of the cake and may be puff pastry or shortcrust pastry. The cake is round, with a surface dusting of icing sugar showing the Cross of the Order of Santiago as a distinguishing mark. Packaging must take place at the production facilities registered with the Regulatory Board. Cakes marketed under the designation must carry a numbered seal, label or secondary label approved and issued by the Regulatory Board, bearing a sequential alphanumeric code and the official PGI logo, and labels must state 'Indicación Geográfica Protegida "Tarta de Santiago"'.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 3 July 2007 under file number PGI-ES-0616, covering the entire Autonomous Community of Galicia.
• Almonds must account for at least 33 % of the total weight of the mix and must have a fat content of more than 50 % in the untrimmed product.
• The Cross of the Order of Santiago rendered in icing sugar is a required distinguishing mark on the surface of every cake.
• The oldest documented reference to the cake dates to 1577, and the cross decoration was introduced by a Santiago de Compostela cake shop in 1924.

Tasting notes

Galician almond cake IGP from Santiago de Compostela. Distinctive — almond-flour-egg-sugar cake, traditionally decorated with powdered-sugar Cross of Santiago stencil. Dense moist almond-meal texture, sweet rich almond-citrus flavor.

HoReCa use

Galician dessert centerpiece; with espresso; pilgrimage souvenir.

Packaging

• retail-cake-400g
• retail-cake-700g
• gift-pack-with-Cross-stencil-700g