persian love cake

pareve

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This is a riff on a traditional Persian cake, featuring the flavors of cardamom and rosewater.

Let’s call it, Persian Love Cake with a twist!

Why is this called Love Cake? Legend holds that it was invented by a young woman who was trying to win the affections of a prince. Or, maybe it’s called Love Cake because, who wouldn’t love a dessert that looks so pretty, tastes so good, and is so quick and easy to prepare?

Unlike most recipes for Persian Love Cake which call for butter and often yogurt or buttermilk, this one uses no dairy, which makes it permissible to serve it after a meat meal without violating Jewish dietary laws. If that’s not a concern and you’re looking for a more usual, dairy based recipe, I’ve got a beautiful dairy version; as well. You can find it here.

If you explore recipes for Persian Love Cake online, you’ll find that no two are alike. A dish might be traditional, but that doesn’t mean that everyone makes it the same way. And, not only are there different versions of the recipe, there are also different versions of the legend behind it. In some, she wins the heart of the prince and they live happily ever after. In others, her plan fails.

Some insist that only fine white almond flour will do, while others insist that coarse, unblanched almond meal is the way to go. So who’s right? You are! Just know the difference in outcome that each will produce, and choose the one that suits you. Almond flour will give you a light colored cake with a fine crumb. Almond meal will give you a darker cake with more texture. I’m going with almond flour in this one, but feel free to use either one. Also, you’ll find that some recipes call for yogurt, some for buttermilk, and some for no added liquid. My guess is that yogurt, and not buttermilk, was available to the damsel who invented it, but that doesn’t mean that the cake isn’t great with either. Both will give you a nice tang. But I digress, because this is a recipe for a dairy-free Persian Love Cake, and so it follows the path of those who add no liquid.

As always, freshly ground spices have much more flavor than the ground spices you buy in a jar. You can certainly use ground cardamom from the store, but break open the cardamom pods, gather the seeds, and grind them yourself, and the flavor will take you to a place that’s out of this world. It’s your call. Some recipes call for saffron and others do not. I adore it, so I’m adding it to the icing. That means that, rather the usual creamy white icing, mine will be golden on top.

I believe one should eat what one likes. This is a rosewater cake. Rosewater is a strong flavor. I’m a fan, but if you’re not you can make this cake with orange blossom water. Because this is a riff and not an authentic, dairy recipe for Love Cake, I claim license to do anything I want with it. It is, after all, my riff! And now it can be yours.

I’m using saffron in the glaze on top, first because I love the flavor and the aroma, but also because I’m looking to create a golden dessert. And, while I’m using rosewater in the cake batter, I’m going to use orange blossom water in the glaze. Because, while there are undoubtedly such things as yellow roses, I think my brain will have an easier time connecting the scent of orange, rather than rose, with a deep yellow glaze that’s highlighted with metallic gold spray.

I’m working with a theme here—mimicking a jewel encrusted breastplate—so I’m baking this in a square pan, You can use a deep round 8” or 9” cake pan if you prefer. (This recipe makes a lot of batter. A pan with less height might cause your batter to overflow)

The traditional presentation uses rose petals and finely chopped pistachios. (Make sure you only use raw, green, unsalted pistachios or it will taste salty and be a muddy brown rather than a gorgeous green.)

Once the glaze is dry, I’m going to lightly spray the whole thing with edible metallic gold and then scatter the pistachios, along with red rose petals, blue butterfly pea flower petals, and yellow marigold petals across the top.

This blend of edible flowers is so gorgeous you might find yourself using it in all sorts of places.  They taste good, too.

Persian Love Cake (pareve)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 1/4 cup neutral fruit or nut oil, such as avocado or sunflower

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 2 tablespoons rose water (or orange blossom water)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Garnish

edible flowers

crushed pistachios

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 °. Prepare an 8”X8” square cake pan by spraying it with non-stick spray and set it aside.

• In a stand mixer, or with an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until fluffy in a large bowl.

• Add the oil, rosewater, and ground cardamom into the mixture and whisk well.

• Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the wet ingredients and gently whisk until is incorporated.

• Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 35 minutes until tester comes out clean.

• Have ready a cooling rack on top of a sheet of parchment paper. This way, when the glaze drips it won’t make a huge mess.

• Cool the cake in the pan, on the rack for 10 minutes.

• Then, turn the cake out onto the rack.

• Allow it to cool completely before glazing.

Saffron Glaze

Ingredients:

½ teaspoon crumbled saffron

1 teaspoon orange blossom water

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

water as needed.

Method:

• Combine the saffron with 2 tablespoons of warm water and allow it to bloom for 10 minutes.

• Whisk confectioner’s sugar with the bloomed saffron and the orange blossom water in a small bowl.

• Keep whisking, adding water, no more than a teaspoonful at a time, until you have a thick but pourable icing. If you accidentally add too much liquid, add more powdered sugar.

• Pour the glaze directly onto the center of the cake and then spread it out over the top, using an offset spatula.

• You can let the glaze run haphazardly down the sides, or spread it with the spatula to make a solid icing all around.

• Let the glaze dry for 3 minutes, then lightly mist the entire cake top with the gold spray.

• Immediately sprinkle the dried edible petals and chopped pistachios over the surface, before the icing hardens. Then, let the icing set completely before serving the cake.