Persian Love Cake is a Middle Eastern cake that uses saffron, rose and cardamom for a truly delightful flavor. It has a beautiful presentation. I made it for Valentine’s Day because, you know, love and roses and all. It is a really nice cake and not overly sweet. I find I am preferring slightly sweetened desserts more these days.

Rose water can be difficult to find, but most things are findable on the internet. You can also look in Mediterranean or Middle Eastern stores. Roses are not something we are accustomed to consuming in the western world, but I assure you they are widely used in other parts of the world. Rose water definitely tastes like roses and a little goes a long way as far as flavor is concerned. I like to stick with organic as much as possible to avoid toxins creeping into my foods. I would search for organic rose petals and water if possible. If you cannot find rose water you can substitute orange-blossom water, lemon juice and zest or orange juice and zest instead. Although, rose water is more authentic, I am sure it would be yummy with any of those variations.

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds (almond flour)
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 1/2 tsp rose water
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • pinch of saffron, crushed
  • 1/2 cup milk

Lemon-Rose Syrup

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp rose water

Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Topping

  • 2 tbsp rose petals
  • 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease bundt pan. (TIP: I use Baker’s Joy to grease cake pans. I love it and it works wonderfully.)
  2. Warm milk slightly and mix in crushed saffron. Let it set while you mix the other ingredients.
  3. In a stand mixer with large bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time with a spoonful of ground almonds with each egg. Mix together between each addition.
  5. Add yogurt, rose water and zest and mix until incorporated.
  6. In a separate bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom.
  7. Add flour mix to wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
  8. Add saffron milk and mix until batter is smooth. Be careful not to over mix.
  9. Pour into bundt pan and tap on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
  10. Bake 20 minutes.
  11. Reduce heat to 325F and bake another 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
  12. Remove from the oven and cool in pan 10 minutes.
  13. Place cake on wire rack and cool completely.
  14. Prepare they syrup by combining syrup ingredients to sauce pan. Heat, while stirring, until sugar dissolves and syrup thickens a bit.
  15. Brush syrup on warm cake.
  16. Allow cake to finish cooling before icing.
  17. Prepare glaze by sifting powdered sugar into a bowl and adding lemon juice. Whisk until combined and you see no lumps. You may need to add more lemon juice if too thick or more sugar if too thin. You want it to be thick, but pourable.
  18. Pour glaze over cooled cake.
  19. Sprinkle with pistachios and rose petals.
  20. Cake can be stored on counter top in cake container for approximately 2-3 days. It may last longer in the fridge.
  21. Enjoy!