recipes
Persian Love Cake

Ingredients
Cake
- 6 tablespoon butter
- 6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 eggs large
- 1 cup yogurt thick, Greek style, reduced fat
- 2 tablespoon rose water
- 2 teaspoon ground green cardamom
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup semolina flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoon slivered pistachios
Honey saffron syrup
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoon rose water
- ½ teaspoon saffron
- 2 tablespoon pistachios slivered
Process
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine butter and the olive oil together. Add the sugar and whisk it all together until creamy.
- Then add eggs, one at a time and whisk it very well.
- Next add the thick yogurt and whisk it all together into a fluffy mixture.
- Add rose water, ground cardamom and stir it in.
- Sift the almond flour, all-purpose flour and semolina flour, one by one and lightly whisk it in the mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle baking powder all over, add pinch salt and incorporate it very well into the mixture.
- Pour the cake batter into a greased 10 inch springform cake pan that has been lined with parchment paper in the bottom.
- Tap the bottom of the cake pan on the kitchen counter to even out the cake batter. Scatter the almond slices all over the cake batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes until it is golden on the top and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Honey saffron syrup
- While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup.
- Combine honey and orange juice and bring it to a boil.
- Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, grind your saffron threads using a mortar and pestle into a fine powder. You can add a pinch of sugar to help the threads grind into a fine powder.
- Then stir in the rose water and ground saffron into the syrup. Turn off the heat and add the pistachios.
Serving the love cake
- Using a thin wooden skewer or a sharp pointed kitchen knife/utensil poke fine holes all over the cake.
- Pour the warm syrup over the warm cake and let the syrup soak in for several hours or overnight.
- Decorate with fresh or dried edible rose petals and more slivered pistachios.

