It’s the 4th birthday of my blog today so to celebrate I had to make a special cake. I asked on my social media for suggestions and this was the one I chose to bake!
A Persian love cake is flavoured with pistachios, rose water and citrus. The name apparently originates because a young woman was madly in love with the Persian Prince, and baked him a cake with rosewater, pistachios and spice.
It is quite a simple cake to make but has a very nice flavour (it doesn’t taste of soap!) and looks pretty impressive. I made mine in a Bundt tin but you could make it in a round tin and it would still look great.
I was really happy with how it turned out and I think it’s a fitting cake for my special day to celebrate all I have achieved in the last four years and for all my lovely followers who support me every day on my baking journey.
Start by pre-heating the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and spray a Bundt tin with cake release spray.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one a time, mixing between additions.
Then add the lemon zest, orange zest, rose water, flour, baking powder, cardamom, almonds and pistachios. Mix until combined.
Finally add the sour cream and mix again.
Put the mixture into the pre-prepared tin and level with a small spatula.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out cleanly.
Leave to cool in the tin.
To make the icing: Place the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl, then add the lemon juice, orange juice and rose water and mix. It should be spreadable but not too runny. You can add more icing sugar if it is too runny to get the required consistency.
Place the cool cake on a plate or cake stand.
Put the icing in a ring around the top of the cake and let it run down the sides.
Sprinkle the pistachios over the top and decorate with the dried roses to finish.
Leave the icing to set, then slice to serve.
Persian Love Cake
Sarah’s servings: 10
Sarah’s skill: Easy
Baking time: 35-40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Cake:
175g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zested
2 tsp rose water
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom, ground
150g almonds, ground
100g pistachios, ground
3 tbsp sour cream
Icing:
200g icing sugar, sieved
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp rose water
Decoration:
10 edible dried roses
20g pistachios, roughly chopped
METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and spray a Bundt tin with cake release spray.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one a time, mixing between additions.
Then add the lemon zest, orange zest, rose water, flour, baking powder, cardamom, almonds and pistachios. Mix until combined.
Finally add the sour cream and mix again.
Put the mixture into the pre-prepared tin and level with a small spatula.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out cleanly.
Leave to cool in the tin.
To make the icing: Place the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl, then add the lemon juice, orange juice and rose water and mix. It should be spreadable but not too runny. You can add more icing sugar if it is too runny to get the required consistency.
Place the cool cake on a plate or cake stand.
Put the icing in a ring around the top of the cake and let it run down the sides.
Sprinkle the pistachios over the top and decorate with the dried roses to finish.
Leave the icing to set, then slice to serve.
EQUIPMENT USED
SARAH’S EXTRA SLICE
You can make the ground pistachios yourself by placing them in a mini or food processor.
You can freeze the cake without the icing for up to 3 months.
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