I was in Iran a few years ago to attend a wedding. Over there I wanted to try the Persian Love Cake which was all over my feed during that time. Legend has it, that a Persian girl baked a cake to win the love of a Prince and they lived happily ever after. Well anyway, I visited the cities of Tehran, Shiraz Tabriz and Mashad but I didn’t find any cake called ”love”. There were however cakes with the unmistakable Persian flavours of pistachio or almond , kissed with saffron cardamom and rosewater but it was simply called Pistachio Cake. So, where did the ”love” go?
Somehow, I think the legend of the Persian Love Cake was invented as a marketing strategy here in the West and who ever thought of it was a genius. I even asked one of the Persian aunties who incidentally taught Persian literature and she told me there was no Persian legend or folklore about the love cake and that was that. Regardless of the sham that is connected to this cake, I love the flavours so much that it has made its way into my favourite Persian Love Cookies and Persian Love Ice Cream .
As for me, I have my own Persian prince and I have been practicing my cooking on him and yes including the Persian Pistachio Cake , the recipe of which I share here. The original recipe I copied from my sister in law, Mahin and doesn’t have icing. This cake is dense, rich and moist from the nuts and fragrant with exotic aromatics. I’m not kidding, one bite and you’re going to fall in love!
The addition of the Cream Cheese Raspberry Icing was my idea. You can of course omit the icing, and most often that’s how I like it. However, if you want to make it truly special and worthy of a Prince or a Princess, then the icing is a must. Something must be working because the Persian Prince and I have been together for 35 years and in spite of the great cultural differences between us, we haven’t strangled each other yet.
I usually serve this naked, with just a dusting of icing sugar and it’s good enough for me. However, If you want to go the extra step, with the gorgeously pretty cream cheese and raspberry icing, good for you. It’s so very easy to put together and looks positively like LOVE.
Without the icing, this cake relies on oil and yoghurt to keep it moist and lush. If you substitute the greek yoghurt for coconut yoghurt, you then have a dairy free/gluten free cake. This is the cake I make, for gluten free and dairy free option without compromising on taste.
What you need to make Persian Love Cake..
- Pistachio – you need roasted shelled pistachio kernels briefly blitzed in a food processor with a teaspoon of caster sugar
- Almond Flour – or almond meal
- Aromatics – Cardamom Powder and Saffron
- Rosewater – Rosewater can be overpowering so be very precise in your measurement. Not a drop more! Omit it altogether if you don’t like roses. I’ve made the cake without it and it’s still delicious.
- Pantry Staples – Eggs, honey,baking powder,caster sugar,yoghurt and vegetable oil
- Raspberry Cream Cheese Icing – Raspberry, Cream Cheese,Butter, Icing Sugar. Optional if Icing Cake.
- Self Raising Flour – If gluten is not an issue, add 1/2 cup of Self Raising flour (increase caster sugar by 1/4 cup and 50 ml oil) when incorporating the nut mix. This results in a lighter cake.
- Optional Bling – Icing Sugar for dusting, plus fruits of your choice.
Size does matter..
If I’m planning to serve the cake without icing, I bake the cake in a 22cm (9 inches) round cake tin and it bakes for 30 to 40 minutes on a slow oven. All it then needs is a dusting of icing sugar on top or a pile of raspberries or figs (if in season) to serve. If I’m going all out and icing the cake, I prefer to bake it in 3 x 15cm (6 inches) round tins . The cake is quite spectacular as a layer cake. Baking time is shorter at 20 minutes and I don’t have to slice the cake into layers. Once the cake is cooled, it’s ready to fill and ice with the raspberry cream cheese frosting.
Easy does it …
- Blitz the shelled pistacios with a teaspoon of caster sugar in a food processor until it resembles coarse meal. Transfer into a bowl and add the almond meal, cardamom powder, and baking powder. Mix together with a whisk or fork.
- Bloom saffron strands in 3 teaspoons of hot water and set aside.
- Place eggs and caster sugar in a mixing bowl with whisk attached and mix on medium until pale and fluffy about 3 minutes. Then mix in honey , rosewater if using, oil and saffron infusion.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the machine and use a spatula to fold the pistachio-almond meal and yoghurt to the mixture. Do not over mix.
- Place the batter into prepared pan/s and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. This cake is very moist and the skewer test is not very accurate. Instead, lightly press the middle of the cake to test the done-ness. It should spring back to your touch.
- Cool in the baking tin for ten minutes and turn out to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Turn out into a serving plate and serve with a dusting of icing sugar.
Persian Love Cake
12
servings30
minutes40
minutesPersian Pistachio Cake
Ingredients
2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2oog shelled pistachios
175g almond flour
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
100g caster sugar
50 ml vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon rosewater
100g Greek yoghurt
10 strands of saffron soaked in 3 teaspoons hot water
Pistachio slivers , icing sugar and dried rose petals for garnish , optional
- Cream Cheese Icing (Optional)
250g full fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
200g butter, room temperature
1 x 125g punnet raspberries plus 1 x250g punnet strawberries
Directions
- Preheat oven to 160 C fan forced. Spray a 22 cm round pan ( or 3 x 6 inch diameter if making a layer cake) with cooking oil. Line bottom of pan with baking paper.
- Process shelled pistachios with 1 teaspoon of sugar until it resembles coarse almond meal. Transfer into a bowl. Add the almond meal ground cardamom and baking powder and mix together. Set aside
- Place eggs and caster sugar in a mixing bowl. Use the whisk attachment and mix until pale and fluffy about 3 minutes. Add cooking oil, saffron infusion , rosewater if using and honey. Mix to incorporate.
- Remove the bowl from the machine. Use a spatula to carefully fold in the pistachio almond meal mix and yoghurt . Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 150°C. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. The cake should be golden brown and spring back when touched in the middle.
- Remove cake from the oven, and cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes. Un mould the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place cake in a serving plate and dust with icing sugar. Decorate with berries if desired.
- Make the cream cheese raspberry icing if using and use it to fill and ice top and sides of the cake (optional).
- Cream Cheese Raspberry Icing
- Place butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium speed. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl so it’s mixed evenly.
- Add icing sugar and mix on low to combine, then on medium for 5 minutes or until thick.
- Add half of the raspberries and mix until berries are incorporated into the icing.
- Use the icing to fill and frost the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with the rest of raspberries. Slice each strawberry into 6 wedges. Arrange in an overlapping pattern.
Notes
- Un iced, keeps for 3 days in room temperature. If frosted with cream cheese, store covered in the fridge and bring to room temp before serving. Revised with updated photos.
