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    February 6, 2015

    A persian love cake of sorts for your valentine

    Uncategorized

    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.

     

     

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    52 Comments

    1. Kristin @ Tasty Joy says

      February 6, 2015 at 11:41 am

      This is so inspiring! Well done 🙂

    2. La Table De Nana says

      February 6, 2015 at 1:06 pm

      So beautiful!

    3. rakhee@boxofspice says

      February 6, 2015 at 1:08 pm

      How beautiful! Who wouldn't fall in love with this cake!

    4. Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says

      February 6, 2015 at 1:56 pm

      My Valentine would jump for joy with this cake!! Stunning!

    5. wild nettle says

      February 6, 2015 at 6:48 pm

      Wonderful photos and blog 🙂

    6. Dina says

      February 6, 2015 at 7:16 pm

      It looks delicious!!! I will try it next week.

    7. Marigene says

      February 6, 2015 at 7:51 pm

      On top of the beautiful presentation, it sounds delicious!

    8. Anonymous says

      February 7, 2015 at 3:21 am

      Wow! Just Beautiful! And it sound like a cake that I would love. Thanks for sharing.
      Your photos are just beautiful!
      Diane M.

    9. Laura (Tutti Dolci) says

      February 8, 2015 at 12:10 am

      What a lovely cake, just perfect for Valentine's Day!

    10. Anonymous says

      February 8, 2015 at 3:59 am

      mary_javidi@yahoo.com
      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.

    11. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says

      February 9, 2015 at 2:53 am

      Just perfection!! Love the rose and saffron exotic flavors here 🙂

    12. CREATIVE KHADIJA says

      February 9, 2015 at 8:36 am

      This is too pretty as well as yummy! you are very smart my friend, I love your pretty skills 🙂 keep sharing more yummy recipes!

    13. Lynn | The Road to Honey says

      February 9, 2015 at 3:44 pm

      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

    14. Saghar {Lab Noon} says

      February 13, 2015 at 2:19 pm

      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 🙂

    15. Anonymous says

      March 21, 2015 at 7:17 pm

      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.

    16. Shital says

      November 9, 2015 at 3:16 pm

      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!

      • twiggstiudios says

        November 9, 2015 at 3:37 pm

        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

        • Shital says

          November 10, 2015 at 1:41 am

          thank you! I’m so excited to make this.

        • Shital says

          November 14, 2015 at 3:06 am

          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

    17. Sarala naidu says

      November 27, 2015 at 3:37 pm

      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

      • twiggstiudios says

        November 27, 2015 at 10:02 pm

        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

    18. andrea says

      February 13, 2016 at 11:07 pm

      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

      • twiggstiudios says

        February 14, 2016 at 7:26 pm

        thankyou for noticing you add it with the almonds i have amended it now x

        • andrea says

          February 14, 2016 at 10:53 pm

          Thank you so much, just about to start making if for my husband for a lovely Valentine’s Day treat 🙂

    19. Katie says

      December 29, 2016 at 3:57 am

      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!

      • twiggstiudios says

        December 29, 2016 at 10:56 am

        I used ground almonds so I think that is almond meal x

    20. Y says

      January 30, 2017 at 1:32 pm

      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

      • Y says

        January 30, 2017 at 1:34 pm

        Sorry my sentence isn’t displayed correctly.Please mention the amount of semolina and flour.The amount of almond meal is quite clear.Thanks

        • twiggstiudios says

          February 1, 2017 at 9:35 am

          150g of semolina or plain flour x

    21. Ella says

      December 18, 2017 at 4:11 pm

      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!

      • twiggstiudios says

        December 20, 2017 at 11:45 am

        I’m not that experienced with gluten free baking could you try a gluten free plain flour?

      • Hannah says

        February 1, 2018 at 7:22 pm

        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!

    22. Aga says

      January 27, 2018 at 6:10 am

      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!

      • twiggstiudios says

        January 27, 2018 at 8:58 pm

        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.

    23. Zara says

      April 23, 2018 at 12:07 pm

      Beautiful cake! How long can this cake be stored? How long does this stay fresh at room temp?

      • twiggstiudios says

        June 11, 2018 at 12:30 pm

        if covered it should be ok for 3 days

    24. Esther Gunamijaya says

      July 5, 2018 at 6:24 am

      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.

      • twiggstiudios says

        July 14, 2018 at 2:53 pm

        that’s great so glad it went well xxxx

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