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Persian Love Cake

Persian Love Cake is a fragrant rose, citrus, almond, and cardamom cake topped with dried rose petals and pistachios. It’s a great, easy recipe for when you want a sophisticated dessert without the fuss!

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Additional Time
10 mins
Total Time
1 hr 15 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 602 kcal
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Persian

Ingredients

For the Cake:
  • 2 cups almond flour (256g)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (120g)
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter softened (170g)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons rose water
For the Glaze:
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (180g)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon rosewater or cold water
  • chopped pistachios for garnish
  • dried rose petals for garnish

Instructions

For the Cake:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 8-inch cake pan with butter or baking spray and line with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and cardamom. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time scraping down the bowl between each egg. Beat in the rose water.
  4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth to the edges.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to release it from the pan. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully invert the cake onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
For the glaze:
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water until smooth. Place the cake, bottom side up on a cake stand or serving plate. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake and sprinkle with pistachios and rose petals. Store cake covered for up to 4 days.

Notes

  • Make your own almond flour. If you don’t have almond flour, you can make your own by processing blanched almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Just be sure that you don’t process for too long or you’ll make almond butter!
  • Optional: use freshly ground cardamom. Fresh cardamom seeds offer much more flavor and fragrance than store-bought powdered cardamom. Use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to crush the seeds into a powder.
  • Cool the cake completely before glazing. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before adding the glaze to prevent the glaze from running off the sides of the cake.
  • Optional Variations. Add candied ginger as a garnish with the rose petals and pistachios for additional texture and a zing of spicy-sweet flavor. Additionally, if you can't find rose water, orange blossom water works just as well!

Nutrition Information

Calories 602kcal (30%) Carbohydrates 67g (22%) Protein 11g (22%) Fat 35g (54%) Saturated Fat 13g (65%) Polyunsaturated Fat 2g Monounsaturated Fat 6g Trans Fat 1g Cholesterol 116mg (39%) Sodium 182mg (8%) Potassium 95mg (3%) Fiber 4g (16%) Sugar 48g (96%) Vitamin A 649IU (13%) Vitamin C 3mg (3%) Calcium 127mg (13%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 8servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 602

% Daily Value*

Calories 602kcal 30%
Carbohydrates 67g 22%
Protein 11g 22%
Fat 35g 54%
Saturated Fat 13g 65%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g 12%
Monounsaturated Fat 6g 30%
Trans Fat 1g 50%
Cholesterol 116mg 39%
Sodium 182mg 8%
Potassium 95mg 2%
Fiber 4g 16%
Sugar 48g 96%
Vitamin A 649IU 13%
Vitamin C 3mg 3%
Calcium 127mg 13%
Iron 2mg 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.