Persian love cake
A modern cake in the Persian style, which legend credits with making a Persian prince fall in love — and which genuinely impresses by aroma: cardamom, saffron, rose water and lemon zest. There is no wheat flour, only ground almonds, so the crumb is dense and moist, closer to marzipan than sponge. What matters most is not to overbake it — a dry centre destroys the whole point.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Saffron 10 min
- Batter 15 min
- Baking 45 min
- Cooling 90 min
- Glaze and decoration 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneGrind and bloom the saffron
Grind the saffron threads in a mortar with a pinch of sugar and cover with two tablespoons of hot water for 10 minutes. Ground and bloomed, saffron gives an even gold colour and full aroma; whole threads in a batter leave only orange specks.
Ingredients: 10 pcs cardamom · 1 pinch saffron · 2 tbsp water · 1 tbsp rose water · 1 pcs lemon
Ground with sugar and bloomed — only then does it colour evenly.Grind the cardamom fresh
Shell 10 pods and grind the seeds to powder. There is a lot of cardamom deliberately — it is the main flavour alongside the almonds. Ready-ground cardamom quickly loses its essential oils and tastes flat and faintly dusty.
Ingredients: 10 pcs cardamom · 1 pinch saffron · 2 tbsp water · 1 tbsp rose water · 1 pcs lemon
Cream the butter and sugar
Beat the soft butter with the sugar and lemon zest for 4 minutes until pale. Then beat in the eggs one at a time. The mixture may curdle slightly — the almonds will fix it.
Ingredients: 300 g ground almonds · 150 g butter · 180 g sugar · 4 pcs eggs · 100 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pinch salt
Fold in almonds, yogurt and aromatics
Add the ground almonds with the baking powder, cardamom and salt, then the yogurt, saffron water, rose water and the juice of half the lemon. Fold with a spatula only until combined. The batter will be thick and golden.
Ingredients: 300 g ground almonds · 150 g butter · 180 g sugar · 4 pcs eggs · 100 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pinch salt
Thick and golden — fold only until combined.Bake at a lower temperature
Scrape into a lined 23 cm springform and bake in a preheated oven 40–45 minutes at 165°C. Lower than usual, because almonds burn faster than wheat flour and the centre needs time.
Ingredients: 300 g ground almonds · 150 g butter · 180 g sugar · 4 pcs eggs · 100 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pinch salt
Take it out while the skewer shows moist crumbs
The cake is done when a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs, not clean. A clean skewer means overbaked — an almond cake keeps drying in the tin and after an hour would be dry.
Ingredients: 300 g ground almonds · 150 g butter · 180 g sugar · 4 pcs eggs · 100 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pinch salt
Cool completely before glazing
Cool in the tin at least half an hour, then turn out onto a rack and leave until completely cold (about another hour). A cake without wheat flour is very fragile while warm and breaks as you move it, and glaze runs off a warm cake.
Ingredients: 300 g ground almonds · 150 g butter · 180 g sugar · 4 pcs eggs · 100 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 pinch salt
Glaze and decorate
Mix the icing sugar with the rose water and the juice of the other lemon half, adding it a teaspoon at a time, into a thick, pourable glaze. Pour over the top and immediately scatter with pistachios and rose petals before it sets. Added later, they will not stick.
Ingredients: 120 g icing sugar · 1 tsp rose water · 40 g pistachios · 1 tbsp rose petals
Pistachios and petals onto wet glaze — later they will not stick.
Before you start
Ground almonds, not flakes
Use finely ground blanched almonds. Almond flour with skins gives a darker, more rustic cake, also good, but loses the saffron gold. Flakes would need grinding, risking almond butter.
The syrup version
Some recipes pour a syrup of sugar, lemon juice and rose water over the hot cake instead of glazing. It comes out even moister, almost like basbousa. Choose one or the other — both together is too sweet.
Four days under a dome
The cake keeps four days under a dome and is better on the second, once cardamom and rose have merged. In the fridge it firms — take it out an hour before serving.
