Crafted with aromatic flavours like rose, saffron, and cardamom, the Persian Love Cake weaves a tale of love and delight with every heavenly bite.
The Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
330g unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
160g pistachios, finely ground
2 cups (200g) almond meal
1 1/2 cups (280g) fine semolina
2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 tbs rosewater
1 cup (280g) Greek yoghurt
LEMON AND ROSEWATER ICING
1 1/2 cups (180g) pure icing sugar, sifted
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp rosewater
SPICED WHITE CHOCOLATE SHARDS
180g white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/3 cup (50g) pistachios, roughly chopped
2 tbs edible dried rose petals (from gourmet food shops)
How To Make:
For the spiced white chocolate shards, line a tray with baking paper. Place white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water) and stir until melted and smooth. Spread melted chocolate over tray in a thin layer, then scatter over cardamom, pistachios and rose petals. Freeze until ready to serve, then snap into shards.
Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 22cm springform cake pan and line base and side with baking paper.
Beat sugar and butter in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in pistachios, almond meal, semolina, spices, lemon zest and juice, rosewater and yoghurt.
Spread into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan.
When ready to serve, place cake on a serving plate. For icing, combine all ingredients in a bowl until thick and smooth. Spread cake with half the icing to create a crumb coat, then top with remaining icing, allowing it to drip down the sides. Top with spiced white chocolate shards.