Persian love cake is moist, spongy and will enchant you with its exotic flavors of rose, cardamom and saffron. Luxuriously packed with almonds and sprinkled with pistachios, it is so easy to make!
Enchanting like our Baklava and Maamoul.
What is Persian Love Cake?
This Persian love cake is an aromatic cake that combines fragrant flavors such as rose, cardamom, saffron and almond.
There are many versions of the cake. Some that are like a simple cake, others that have a cream based frosting or a fragrant glaze. But all of them have the same aromatic elements - Rose, Cardamom, Saffron.
Rose with cardamom works well for desserts, so I use them for Persian rice cookies and also for chickpea cookies.
Legend has it that this cake was baked to enchant a Persian prince. Whatever may be the story, this rose-scented cake is stunningly delicious and amazingly simple to make. So easy to please your loved one with this recipe!
I must add that this cake by its name will not be typically found in a traditional Persian cookbook. However, it is quite similar in flavor and taste to other Persian cakes and desserts.
Step By Step Overview
Combine ghee, oil and sugar. Whisk in eggs and yogurt. Stir in flavors.
Whisk in almond flour, all purpose flour, semolina flour, one by one. Stir in baking powder and pinch of salt.
Transfer batter to prepared cake pan, top with almond slices and bake. Poke fine holes in baked cake. Prepare syrup with honey and orange juice while cake is baking.
Add rose water, saffron and pistachios. Pour warm syrup on warm cake.
Pro Tips and Tricks
- The flavors of rose water and cardamom can be pretty intense so use them judiciously. The recipe uses traditional amounts of these flavors but feel free to experiment with less quantities and scale it up.
- The cake is pretty sweet. But if you wish to make the cake less sweet, try using half the syrup and scale it up.
- I prefer to make a thin syrup as it permeates the cake well and makes it moist. If the syrup is made thicker, it gives a stickier glaze so the cake is a bit more sweeter on the exterior.
- The cake can also be served with a rose water flavored whipped cream that is lightly sweetened with some powdered sugar.
- Alternatively you may drizzle a rose water glaze prepared by mixing 1 to 2 tablespoon rose water with ½ cup fine powdered sugar.
- If using the rose water whipped cream or glaze, then try to use less syrup.
- Make sure to use only "light" olive oil or any oil that is not strongly flavored.
- I personally prefer the cake with its full flavor. But if you want to tone down the exotic flavors then you can skip the saffron and you may also use some grated lemon or orange zest instead.
- You can make the cake with only oil or only ghee or butter.
- This cake recipe is pretty forgiving. I have found success even with simply combining all the ingredients in one single step. Make sure to mix well. A whisk is helpful.
- The cake is best after allowing the syrup to soak through for several hours or overnight.
- It is best to eat the cake in a day or two. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator. Keep the refrigerated leftovers at room temperature for one hour before serving.
Variations
If you have loved ones who have specific dietary preferences, here are some suggestions.
Gluten Free: Use gluten-free flour and substitute semolina with GF flour or almond flour. You may also make the cake with only almond flour by replacing flour and semolina with almond flour.
Nut Free: Use only flour and semolina. Replace the almond flour with regular flour or semolina. Skip the pistachios and almond slices. You may top the cake with pumpkin seeds instead of pistachios.
Dairy free: I haven't tried this, but try coconut yogurt instead of dairy yogurt and use oil instead of ghee.
More Cake Recipes
- Fresh Cream Pineapple Cupcakes
- German Apple Cake
- Tahini Chocolate Marble Cake
- Mango Cake with Whipped Cream
Full Recipe Tutorial Video
★ DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE COMMENT AND GIVE IT A STAR RATING BELOW!
Persian Love Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 6 tablespoon ghee or butter, melted
- 6 tablespoon olive oil light
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 eggs large
- 1 cup yogurt thick, Greek style, reduced fat
- 2 tablespoon rose water
- 2 teaspoon green cardamom ground
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup semolina flour (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoon almonds sliced
Syrup
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoon rose water
- ½ teaspoon saffron ground
- 2 tablespoon pistachios slivered
Equipment
Instructions
Persian Love Cake
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine oil and ghee 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.
- 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 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.
- Then stir in the rose water and ground saffron into the syrup. Turn off the heat and add the pistachios.
Final Step
- 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 nuts. Serve with rose water cream if you like (see blog post).
Notes
- You may adjust the amounts of rose water and cardamom as per taste.
- To make the cake less sweet, try using half the syrup and scale it up.
- The cake can also be served with a rose water flavored whipped cream or a rose water glaze (check blog post).
- If using this rose water cream or the glaze, then try to use less syrup.
- Make sure to use only oil that is not strongly flavored.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator.
- Grind the saffron threads using a mortar and pestle into a fine powder. Tip: Adding a pinch of sugar to the saffron is helpful to grind it fine.
- Culinary grade dried rose petals are available online.
- Check the full blog post above for more tips and variations.
Nutrition
This post was first published on September 10th 2018 and has been updated with improvements in formatting, process shots, video and additional enhancements.
Nanz says
If I don’t have almond flour, can I use wheat flour? Also when substituting flour, will the eggs requirement stay the same or will that also reduce?
Roxana Begum says
Instead of almond flour you could use all purpose flour or in combination with semolina flour. Same number of eggs.
Poonam Gat says
How can I replace eggs in the recipe?
Thanks
Roxana Begum says
I have not tried it but flax eggs are used as a substitute for eggs in cake recipes. Let me know if you tried.
R Adam says
Due to high cost of saffron, is there a substitute?
I found saffron oil. Can this be used?
Roxana Begum says
No I only use saffron for this recipe.
Ashley says
When the recipe calls for butter should it be softened, melted, cold?
Roxana Begum says
Melted is fine, but softened/cold will also work.
Aisha Abbas says
hi, i am making the cake right now, i want it to be less sweet, my idea is to reduce the sugar in the batter, but your tips suggest reducing the syrup and scale it up. what do you mean by scaling it up? wont reducing the syrup make the cake less moist?
Roxana Begum says
Certain amount of sugar is necessary for baking the cake - for the texture etc. You could adjust the sweetness by adding syrup as per your taste, increasing as needed. You could make the syrup a bit thinner, use less honey so it wont be as thick. So the thin syrup will keep it moist while being less sweet.
Sammy says
I made this for Father’s Day just gone. It was a little tricky converting from American measurements to Australian measurements (for some bizarre reason our cups and spoon sizes are different from everywhere else) but it was well worth it! Everyone just loved it, even me and I wasn’t sure about all those different flavours.
Dilnaz Upadhyay says
Hello, wanted to check if I could use only ghee to make this cake, instead of a mix of ghee & olive oil ? Please advice. TIA ????
Roxana Begum says
It should work, but may be denser/firmer like butter-based cakes. Oil makes the cake more moist.
Sara says
Delicious and savory!
Anahita says
Does it have to be a spring pan? Can I use a normal cake pan?
Roxana Begum says
It is easier to use springform pan as we pour syrup. For other pans, you could probably try lining the pans with parchment paper to overhang the sides. It may then be easier to lift it out.
leila says
This is my favourite by far! I made it as a Persian dessert for my guests, and they absolutely loved it!
I bought all ingredients from Bulkbarn for the portion because I wasn't sure how it would be, but it ended up great!
I highly suggest trying!
Anna says
What do you do with 2 spoons green cardamom. Add to cake with all flowers? I dont see in recepie that step.
Roxana Begum says
Please check step number 5 in the recipe.
Anonymous says
Can we use something else instead of orange juice?
Roxana Begum says
You could try other juice like pineapple or apple juice. If using water, you may have to use a little more honey.
Loretta Woolford says
Can you use full fat Greek yoghurt rather than reduced fat?
Roxana Begum says
I have not tried that, so would not know for sure. But it may work because the batter is not too thick and has enough moisture to be able to handle the thickness of greek yogurt. Let me know if you try.
Sharmeen says
If I don't have semolina flour, what would you suggest? I have all the other ingredients!
Roxana Begum says
So instead of 1/2 cup semolina flour, you could use 1/4 cup each of almond flour and all purpose flour.
Julia says
I made and the cake and didn’t have any almond flour so I did 1:1 with all purpose flour, and used 1 less egg. I topped it with some lightly sweetened fresh whip cream and dusted with rose petals. It turned out wonderfully. Light, fluffy, aromatic, definitely recommend.
Olivia Massaro says
Love the recipe, however, have not tried it. I’m lactose intolerant. Could I substitute goat yogurt?
Thank you, Olivia
Roxana Begum says
You could try that or other non-dairy yogurt.
Adam says
My new favourite cake. A bit tricky to track down all the ingredients, but definitely worth it. So full of flavour.
Chitra says
Hi
Lovely cake. Planning on making this soon. Can it be stored at room temperature?
Roxana Begum says
Cant keep at room temperature for too long especially in summer time, perhaps a day. In winter it make be ok.
Carolle says
March 31st 2021
I made this cake today,it turned out really good and it was very tasty,I did not have corn flour ,I used coconut flour instead and it turned out good. I love cardamom but you could hardly taste it,I would put more next time. It is a very easy cake to make.
Carolle,Naramata,B.C.Canada
Roxana Begum says
Using freshly ground cardamom is the best for flavor.
Nick says
Oh man. Let me tell you. Happy Nowruz baby. This is the most delectable munchy crunchy for brunchy I ever did have. Big yum yums. No joke. If there was one thing as good as this munchy crunchy, it would have to be THIS MUNCHY CRUNCHY. Yeah, that's right. This is a really perfect recipe too like wow this is all just so great. It was DELICIOUS I wish you could all try it. I know that was repetitive, but listen. Ours was almost dairy-free (vegan butter instead of ghee) and it worked. I wonder if subbing the yogurt for coconut yogurt or something would be good. Till next time (very soon). Much love. Nowruz Mobarak!!!
Roxana Begum says
Thanks for the lovely feedback. Sure, you can try coconut yogurt, as others have done it.
Jennifer says
Great recipe and perfect for afternoon with tea. The only thing I will try next time I bake this is to double the syrup. I thought the cake would be moister and at least more saturated with the syrup at top, but the cake just soaked it all up.
Roxana Begum says
Thanks Jennifer. Perhaps you could keep the syrup thinner. If you double the syrup it may become too sweet.
Ruhab Qazi says
Hello! Where can i buy the rose water from?
Roxana Begum says
Middle eastern grocery stores and online.
Yasmin says
This recipe turned out perfectly! Didn’t make any deviations from recipe. I was really impressed, thank you so much for sharing this!
Roxana Begum says
Thanks Yasmin.
Elmien says
Hi,
Will this recipe work in a bundt cake tin? Would I have to adjust the baking time/volume?
Thank you for sharing!
Roxana Begum says
It might, I have not made it. The baking time may be a bit lower. You would have to watch and check until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. In my oven, with a bundt pan I would check after 20 to 25 minutes and adjust as needed. But the top appearance will be a bit different. The cake batter volume will depend on the size of the bundt pan. Springform pan comparison - 9x2.5 inches (23 x 6 cm) = 10 cups (2.4 liters); Bundt Pan – volume can vary with design - 10×3 inch (25 x 8 cm) = 10-12 cups (2.8 liters)
Emmi says
Hi! Thank you for this lovely recipe. I would love to give these cakes as a gift for Christmas. What would ne the best way, if I would make them in advance, couple of days before christmas. Should they be freezed and then melt them and add the syrup just before giving them away. Or just keep them in fridge? Thank you if you can help!
Roxana Begum says
If its only couple days before gifting, it should be fine at room temperature especially in this winter time. If it's too hot or humid where you are, then I would refrigerate it. Bring it to room temperature, before adding the syrup. And let it soak several hours to overnight, as possible.