Jono & Jules do food & wine

We’re really getting into desserts these days. I think we might have made two in the one month! We’re not really dessert people but lots of are friends are so we’ve been making an effort. This is a Spanish cake which is flavoured with orange and almond and is traditionally marked with the shape of a cross on the top. You don’t have to serve it with the strawberries but they work really well.

Tarta de Santiago with Strawberries & Sherry Vinegar – 8-10 slices 

• a little butter, for greasing
• 6 medium eggs
• 300g caster sugar
• 300g ground almonds
• zest of 3 lemons
• icing sugar, for dusting

For the strawberries: 

• 250g strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered lengthways
• 75g caster sugar
• 50ml Sherry vinegar
• vanilla ice cream, to serve

Mix the strawberries in a bowl with the sugar and vinegar, cover and leave to marinade in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter and line a 22cm springform tin with baking parchment. Use an electric whisk to mix the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Gently fold in the almonds and zest with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 minutes – it should be golden and a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake should come away clean. Take the cake out of the oven and cover with a clean tea towel to cool it down, so it doesn’t dry out. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the strawberries and ice cream.

Wine Suggestion: Try a rich Olorosso, a dark sherry from Spain, which has a warm nuttiness to complement the almond flavour in the cake.

(Original recipe by José Pizarro in BBC Good Food Magazine, August 2012.)