i decided to make this cake with valentines day in mind.
have you heard the tale behind the Persian love cake? well it goes a bit like this, a woman was desperately in love with a prince and she made him this cake to make him fall in love with her
there seems to be two versions of this cake one a almond meal based cake with pistachios and spice and one a chiffon style sponge cake with cardamom and whipped rose cream.
i am not sure which is the true cake but i think that the almond meal one is most typical of Persia.
in order not to offend any one i took my favourite elements from both cakes and added them into one minus the cream. Almond meal is quite pricy to i used half almond half semolina.
i have already found my prince (or lobster as i call him) but i love the story behind this cake its so romantic.
recipe
1 cup 250ml yogurt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 eggs
1 cup 220g caster sugar
1 1/4 cups 150g ground almonds
150g semolina
6 cardamom pods
2 tbsp rosewater
6 tbsp chopped pistachios
pinch of saffron strands
50 ml almond milk (or whole milk)
zest from a lemon or orange
Pre heat oven to 180c 350f
peel the cardamon pods open and remove seeds, crush with a pestle and mortar.
in a cup add the saffron strands to the milk and warm in the microwave.
in another bowl beat the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy for approx. 5 to 8 minutes (I used a stand mixer and whipped until the eggs had whipped up and tripled in size) then gently fold in the yogurt
and then fold in the ground almonds, semolina and baking powder trying not to knock too much air out. then add the ground cardamom, orange or lemon zest and chopped pistachios, add the rosewater to the milk and saffron mixture and stir into the cake batter and pour into a deep lined tin ( 9 inch) or a smaller tin will make it have more hight
bake for about 45 minutes.
while it is cooking make a syrup
juice of 1 orange or lemon
zest of 1 orange or lemon
1/2 cup 125ml water
1/2 cup 125g caster sugar
2 tbsp rosewater
add all ingredients into a pan and simmer until thickened. (approx 5 minutes)
brush onto warm cake.
decorate the cake with chopped pistachios and rose petals.
linking up at
This is so inspiring! Well done 🙂
So beautiful!
How beautiful! Who wouldn't fall in love with this cake!
My Valentine would jump for joy with this cake!! Stunning!
Wonderful photos and blog 🙂
It looks delicious!!! I will try it next week.
On top of the beautiful presentation, it sounds delicious!
Wow! Just Beautiful! And it sound like a cake that I would love. Thanks for sharing.
Your photos are just beautiful!
Diane M.
What a lovely cake, just perfect for Valentine's Day!
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Hi
I am persian and i never knew about the stories and actually what we have with the same ingrediants are kind of cup cake we call them cake yazdi..big round kind of cakes have come to us from western culture…but this combination that you did and the decoration is just fantastic.. i can smell the saffron and rose aroma through the picture..well done.
Just perfection!! Love the rose and saffron exotic flavors here 🙂
This is too pretty as well as yummy! you are very smart my friend, I love your pretty skills 🙂 keep sharing more yummy recipes!
My hubby is Persian. . .I will have to investigate to see what he knows about this persian love cake. It certainly is a beautiful story for a beautiful cake.
http://www.theroadtohoney.com
Ah so beautiful! I just posted my mom's (persian) apple cake for Vday too, though it's not quite as romantic as yours! Very inspiring 🙂
I made this cake today for a Nowruz lunch. Although most of the Iranians in attendance did not recall such a cake or the fable, they all agreed that the elements of the cake were in fact traditional flavors. It paired beautifully with black tea with saffron and sugar. I will indeed be making this again. Finally a cake that tasted just as divine as it looked.
One last comment, you failed to mention when to add the flour or semolina in the steps. Of course it wasn't hard to figure out but perhaps an edit is needed.
Hi! Planning to make this. Does this need plain yogurt or greek yogurt? and can you make this 1 day in advance? should I store outside or in the fridge? thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
hi I think plain or greek yogurt should be fine, I kept it in the fridge but if you have a cake tin it may be fine at room temperature for a day. if you do put it in the fridge then let it come to room temperature before eating it xxx
thank you! I’m so excited to make this.
Think I can make this in a bundt pan like this? http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/chiffon-bundt-cake-pan/?pkey=e%7Cbundt%7C56%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C9&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH
Hi,
I so fell in love with the cake and those beautiful pictures That I had to bake Asap , for my mother in laws 82nd birthday .
I followed the steps in the recipe accordingly but the cake turned out very moist in the centre , but was good all around, please tell me where I went wrong
I would definitely bake this cake again,
Thanks
It may of needed a little longer In the oven. it is quite a moist cake any way so if you try it again try keeping it in for 5 to 8 minutes longer and check with a skewer if it comes away dry then it should be ok xxx
Would love to make this cake, but as someone else also noted the recipe does not say when to put the flour in? Can you please let me know when this step is done or edit the instructions.
Thank you
thankyou for noticing you add it with the almonds i have amended it now x
Thank you so much, just about to start making if for my husband for a lovely Valentine’s Day treat 🙂
Beautiful photographs!
For the ground almonds, can you elaborate? Is almond meal or almond flour okay to use? Or if I grind them myself am I making an almond butter? Raw almonds or toasted almonds?
Thanks!
I used ground almonds so I think that is almond meal x
Hi,
Can you clarify the amount of flour and semolina.It is mentioned above as “1 cup plain flour 150g or semolina” and I just cannot comprehend from this sentence the amount of flour and semolina.Please can you edit the recipe to mention the amount of almond
Sorry my sentence isn’t displayed correctly.Please mention the amount of semolina and flour.The amount of almond meal is quite clear.Thanks
150g of semolina or plain flour x
Hi! I want to make this cake for my wedding, but it needs to be gluten free – tried making it today with 200g grounds almonds and 100g potato starch, but it didn’t seem to bake properly, and is too gooey in the centre (and I baked it for an additional 20 minutes almost!) Any suggestions on how to best make this gluten free?
Absolutely beautiful design!
I’m not that experienced with gluten free baking could you try a gluten free plain flour?
Ella, I am GF and bake a LOT of cakes (I’m about to try this one out!). I found an organic GF flour blend at Costco that I love (I think its Namaste brand?). It subs perfectly for wheat flour. You could also try a blend of coconut and rice flour. I’ve found that 2/3 rice and 1/3 coconut is the best ratio. Generally when subbing GF flours you need a grain (oat, rice, etc) and a starch (potato, tapioca, etc), which is why your cake with just potato starch came out gooey. I would recommend just finding a good pre-made blend though and using that. Almost all of them sub cup-for-cup in any recipe. Good luck!
I want to make it this weekend, but got a bit confused about flour and semolina. How much really should I use of each? Also – “1 cup plain flour 150g or semolina” suggest that I have a choice? But in a description it says “fold in semolina and flour”. Please, clarify this part. Thanks!
this Was so long ago I think it is meant to be one or the other. I need to make it again and find ouT.
Beautiful cake! How long can this cake be stored? How long does this stay fresh at room temp?
if covered it should be ok for 3 days
I made the cake it turned out perfectly good, I baked in two 22 cm , and sandwiched them with greek youghurt, cream cheese and lemon Zest..
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
that’s great so glad it went well xxxx