Persian Love Cake

Name: Persian Love Cake
Total time: 1 h
Yield: One 8-inch Cake
Ingredients: 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter; 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar; 4 large eggs; 12 cardamom pods; 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted; 2 3/4 cups almond flour; Zest of 1 lemon plus 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice; 1 1/2 tablespoons rose water; 1 teaspoon baking powder; Pinch of fine sea salt; 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; Chopped pistachios and dried rose petals (optional), for garnish

2 Ratings
11 Reviews

“This enchanting cake reminds me of a Persian garden in the late spring, adorned with the floral scent of rose water and citrus, and decorated with bright green pistachios,” says cookbook author and blogger Yasmin Khan. “If it is not devoured in one sitting, the oil in the ground almond base ensures a moist, densely textured cake that will keep well for a couple of days, covered in foil. A sprinkling of dried rose petals looks ever so pretty for special occasions, but don’t worry if you can’t get hold of any. It’s still a cake to win hearts.” Slideshow: More Cake Recipes

By Yasmin Khan

Gallery

Credit: Matt Russell

Recipe Summary

total:

1 hr

Yield:

One 8-inch Cake

Directions

Step 1
Make the cake Preheat the oven to 320°F and grease an 8-inch spring form pan and line it with parchment paper.

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Step 2
In a large mixing bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the butter and 2/3 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated.
Step 3
In a mortar and using a pestle, crack the cardamom pods to release the seeds. Discard the pods and grind the seeds to a fine powder. Beat them to the cake batter, along with the flour, almond flour, lemon zest, 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the rose water, baking powder and salt until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a baking rack and let cool slightly.
Step 4
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon of rose water to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Poke holes all over the cake and pour the warm syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool completely, then remove from the pan and transfer to a cake platter.
Step 5
Make the icing Wisk the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of cold water until smooth. Spoon the icing over the cake and garnish with pistachios and rose petals, if using; serve.

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Food & Wine Member

08/08/2021

I used gluten free flour. The cake looks great but it is extremely dry, I’m not sure if it needed more liquid as the cake batter was very think. The taste and lol is awesome.

NatalieP

04/20/2020

This cake was good, if not great, and quite pretty. The directions were pretty unhelpful in places—there was no pouring of either the cake batter into the pan (it’s crazy thick) or of the frosting onto the cooled cake. I ended up doubling the water in the icing and then doubling the icing, which I never do, because the recipe simply didn’t make enough to cover the top. I made my own superfine sugar in the food processor (1-2 minutes) and subbed vanilla for the rose water at half quantity. (I read almond extract is also a reasonable substitute.) Lastly, the dried rose petals are really lovely but have an unpleasant texture that I’d avoid in future.

AR Villalobos

03/24/2020

Also, the frosting needs probably more cold water/lemon because if you follow this recipe your frosting WILL end up super dense and not like icing, please re-write recipe for better results.

Kerry Turnham

11/01/2019

How many serves would this be,I need 15?

oscarthecat731

09/06/2019

This cake was great. I do believe since it’s such a dense cake, the hand mixer was helpful to lighten it up. Start to finish with comfortable cooling time was 3.5 hours. I did made a couple small adjustments based on what I had available in my kitchen: 1) I used 1/2 tsp ground cardamom; 2) I used a 9 inch spring-form pan and baked for 40 minutes. It still out great! I tested it out on family and friends and it was a great hit. I will be trying a second practice run with 3/4 tsp cardamom as I would like to see a slightly more flavor than what I had before.

Shruti Iyer

06/20/2019

can i replace the eggs with something else in this recipe?

LeahEpstein

03/19/2019

If I want to sub the butter to make it dairy-free, any idea how much oil I should use? Or coconut oil?

Piper Hunn

11/12/2018

I left the icing off and it was amazing! Super moist and a perfect blend of flavors.

GabyCas

06/11/2017

I'll try making this next week. Seems so delicious!

thebugg

05/19/2017

How much ground cardamom could you substitute for the pods?

ManuelMoreira

05/17/2017

This love cake is one to die for!

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Recipe Summary

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Persian Love Cake

Gallery

Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Directions

Reviews (11)

All Reviews for Persian Love Cake