Persian Love Cake is moist, yet a fluffy piece of goodness, baked and adorned with Middle Eastern, specifically Persian, ingredients and spices. This Persian cake is well recognized by this name almost all around the world. However, on the contrary, not many Iranians in Iran have heard of the name Persian Love Cake.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, what better time to bake this cake. Not only the name sounds exotic, yet it suggests romance and passion. For an easy, step by step baking recipe, Keep on reading. This cake is to win hearts.
What is Persian Love Cake?
One of the World’s greatest cakes, the Persian Love Cake, is all about exotic flavors of the land of Persia, Iran. The unique flavor combination of key Persian spices and seasonings such as rose water, cardamom, lemon zest, and pistachios create this cake. Cinnamon is an ingredient of personal choice. The distinctive feature of Persian Love Cake is having a light layer of glaze, instead of a thick frosting layer on top. The cake is very fluffy and light, yet very rich in flavor.
It’s a Love Story!
It is believed that a woman falls in love with a Persian prince. In order to win his heart, she decides to bake a delicious cake with authentic Persian ingredients and flavors. After all, an old saying insists that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach! She, therefore, creates and bakes her very own cake using exotic flavors, for the love of her life, hence the name ”Persian Love Cake”.
Persian Love Cake Ingredients
The essential ingredients to bake Persian Love Cake are softened butter, sugar, eggs, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and some milk. Moreover, Cardamom powder, ground almonds (store-bought almond flour or almond meal), Greek yogurt, Rosewater and a generous amount of crushed saffron are on the ingredients list. Feel free to substitute Orange-Blossom water for Rosewater. Additionally, prepare a few spoons of Lemon juice (Orange juice is an alternative) handy for the Lemon Rose syrup and the icing. Chopped unsalted pistachios and some dried rose petals are perfect Persian garnish as finishing touches to our Persian Love Cake.
How to make Persian Love Cake
Measure all your ingredients as per recipe and Pre-heat the oven to 170 C.
Grease and flour a large bundt cake pan. Set in the fridge.
Warm the milk slightly and stir in the crushed saffron, set aside so by the time you need the milk in the recipe, the saffron has infused all its flavour into the milk and also given it a lovely golden colour.
Cream the butter and sugar on high speed for a few minutes till light and fluffy; Add the cardamom and then eggs one by one, also spoon in some ground almonds along with each egg.
Add yoghurt and rose-water and beat them all. Mix in baking powder, salt with flour before adding it to the rest of the mixture. Add saffron milk and mix on low speed till batter is smooth. Do not over-mix.
Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Tap the pan on the countertop to remove any air bubbles.
Bake for 45 minutes or till the cake passes the toothpick test.
Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cake in pan for 10 minutes. Gently unfold the cake to a wire rack and allow to cool completely
Syrup:
During the last few minutes of baking, combine sugar, lemon juice, and rose-water in a small saucepan and heat till sugar dissolves and syrup thickens slightly. Brush warm syrup over the warm cake and allow to cool before covering with the glaze.
Icing:
Use a whisk mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice to form a smooth paste. Add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of water as needed to make it into a thick but dripping consistency.
Decoration:
Pour glaze all over the top of the cooled cake, Sprinkle pistachios and rose petals all over the top of the cake. You can also serve it with a cup of black brewed Persian Tea.
All Photos by Shirin Tahanan
Persian Love Cake
Ingredients
- 220 g Butter softened
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ tsp Cardamom powder
- 4 large egg at room temperature
- ½ cup Ground almonds
- ½ cup Greek yoghurt
- 1½ tsp Rosewater
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Milk
- A generous pinch Saffron crushed
Lemon-rose syrop
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- ½ tsp Rosewater
Icing
- 1 cup Icing sugar
- 2-3 tbsp Lemon juice
- Water
Garnish
- Pistachios unsalted, roughly chopped
- Rose petals fresh or dried
Instructions
- Measure all your ingredients and Pre-heat the oven to 170 C.
- Grease and flour a large bundt cake pan. Set in the fridge.
- Warm the milk slightly and stir in the crushed saffron, set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar on high speed for a few minutes till light and fluffy.
- Add the cardamom and then eggs one by one, also spoon in some ground almonds along with each egg.
- Add yoghurt and rose-water, beat to incorporate.
- Mix in baking powder, salt with flour before adding it to the rest of the
mixture. - Add saffron milk and mix on low speed till batter is smooth. Do not over-mix
- Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Tap the pan on the countertop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 45 minutes or till the cake passes the toothpick test.
- Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cake in pan for 10 minutes. Gently untold the cake to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Syrup
- During the last few minutes of baking, combine sugar, lemon juice, and rose-water in a small saucepan and heat till sugar dissolves and syrup thickens slightly.
- Brush warm syrup over the warm cake and allow to cool before covering with the glaze.
Icing
- Using a whisk mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice to form a smooth paste.
- Add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of water as needed to make it into a thick but dripping
consistency.
Decoration
- Pour glaze all over the top of the cooled cake.
- Sprinkle pistachios and rose petals all over the top of the cake.
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