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Gluten Free Rose, Orange and Pistachio Persian Love Cake Recipe

Legend has it that a long, long time ago, a young woman was madly in love with a Persian Prince, so she baked him a cake filled with magical love powers to make him fall in love with her. In one version of the tale, the cake works its magic and the Prince returns her love, but in another, he doesn't Either way, the Persian Love Cake is a symbol of undying love, with enchanting flavours of rosewater, cardamom and saffron. Perfect as a Valentine's Day celebratory cake, the Persian Love Cake has also become a popular choice for wedding cakes. This is our take on the Persian Love Cake: first, we make it gluten-free by using a combination of ground almonds and ground pistachios with no flour at all, secondly we incorporate orange juice and zest into the cake, and finally, to make the cake just that little bit healthier, we skip the icing, and make a cake drizzle that has no added sugar, as the cake is sweet and lovely enough. The result is a moist, nutty, fruity, floral, enchanting, magical cake, fit for charming any Prince (or Princess).

Customer Rating:
5.0 (2 votes)

Posted by: michael
On:

Cuisine

Middle Eastern

Time

30 - 60 mins

Skill Level

Confident

Serves

12

Courses etc.

Baking Sweet
Desserts

You will need

IngredientAdd
For the cake :
150g salted organic butter OR Available only in our Broughton Street shop More products
150g salted organic butter Available only in our Edinburgh shops More products
120g raw cane sugar OR More products
120g caster sugar More products
3 organic eggs Available only in our Edinburgh shops More products
200g ground almonds More products
100g raw hulled (shelled) pistachios ground, plus extra to decorate the cake More products
1 tsp ground cardamon OR More products
about 12 organic whole cardamom pods, seeds ground More products
1 tsp gluten free baking powder More products
1 organic orange, juice and zest More products
1 Tbsp rosewater More products
For the drizzle :
The juice of 1 organic orange, as above
1 Tbsp rosewater, as above
a generous pinch of saffron, optional More products

Need help converting measurements? View our recipe measurement conversion tables here.

Method

  • Allow your butter to soften at room temperature for about an hour. Preheat your oven to 150C and prepare a 18 or 20cm cake tin by greasing it with butter then dusting with a little ground almond, or by lining it with baking parchment. Alternately, you can use a silicon cake tin.
  • Put the butter and the sugar in a bowl and whisk until light and creamy. Add the eggs and mix until well combined.
  • Now mix in all the remaining cake ingredients : the ground almonds and pistachios, the ground cardamom, the baking powder, the orange juice and zest and the rosewater.
  • Transfer the cake batter to your prepared cake tin and bake in your pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes or until a knife or skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out dry.
  • Prepare the drizzle by simply mixing the orange juice with the rosewater. If using saffron, crumble it really well between your fingers and add that to the orange juice and rosewater, stirring well to combine.
  • Remove the cake from the tin and while still warm, poke holes using a toothpick or a skewer all over the top of the cake and slowly spoon the drizzle over, allowing the cake to soak it.
  • Decorate the cake with fresh, candied or dried rose petals and roughly crushed raw pistachios, if you wish.

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Picture of Ground Cardamom
Ground Cardamom
Real Foods
Picture of Whole Green Cardamom ORGANIC
Whole Green Cardamom ORGANIC
Real Foods
Picture of Blanched Fine Ground Almonds ORGANIC
Blanched Fine Ground Almonds ORGANIC
Real Foods
Picture of Raw Hulled Pistachio Nuts
Raw Hulled Pistachio Nuts
Real Foods
Picture of Orange ORGANIC
Orange ORGANIC
Real Foods (each)
£0.50
Picture of Rosewater
Rosewater
Steenbergs (100ml)
£4.45
Picture of by Doves Farm Baking Powder
by Doves Farm Baking Powder
Freee (130g)
£2.09
Picture of Greek Red Saffron In Filaments
Greek Red Saffron In Filaments
Krocus Kozanis (1g)
£8.29
Picture of Caster Sugar ORGANIC
Caster Sugar ORGANIC
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Picture of Raw Cane Sugar ORGANIC
Raw Cane Sugar ORGANIC
Equal Exchange (500g)
£2.65