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Persian love cake cupcakes

These cupcake-sized version of Persian love cake are wonderfully aromatic, with a tender crumb and lovely flavor.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
40 mins
Servings: 12
Calories: 319 kcal
Course: Dessert , Snacks
Cuisine: Persian

Ingredients

For cupcakes:
  • 1 cup sugar 200g
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil 60ml
  • ½ cup butter 115g, 1 stick - softened or melted and allowed to cool
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tablespoon rosewater see notes
  • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1 small lemon
  • 1 cup all purpose flour 140g plain flour
  • ½ cup almond flour 55g (ground almonds)
  • ½ cup fine semolina 75g
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
For the drizzle:
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 tablespoon honey
  • ⅛ teaspoon saffron approx - 2 pinches, ground
For the glaze:
  • ½ cup powdered sugar 55g
  • 4 teaspoon lemon juice
To decorate:
  • 1 tablespoon pistachios approx
  • 1 teaspoon edible rose petals approx

Instructions

To make cupcakes:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line 12 cupcake moulds in a cupcake/muffin mould.
  2. Cream together the sugar, oil and butter until well combined.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing it in before adding the next. Add the rosewater, lemon juice and zest and mix well.
  4. Separately, mix together the flour, almond flour, semolina, cardamom, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients part at a time and mix until just combined.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake moulds - they should be around ¾ full.
  6. Bake the cupcakes for around 20-22 minutes until a cocktail stick/toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
For drizzle:
  1. While the cupcakes are baking, mix together the lemon, water and honey. Warm them together so that the honey dissolves (you can do this by putting in the microwave in a small bowl for around 30 seconds, check then if needed a bit longer). Once dissolved, add the crushed saffron and mix then leave to infuse.
  2. As soon as the cupcakes are cooked, prick the top of them all over with a cocktail stick/toothpick then carefully drizzle the honey-saffron mixture over them evenly trying to make sure you put about the same on each and that it spreads over the whole of the top. Leave them to cool in the tin a minute then transfer to a cooling rack.
For glaze/finish:
  1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to forma smooth glaze. Finely chop the pistachios and break up the rose petals into small pieces.
  2. Drizzle the glaze over the top of each cupcake and top with some pieces of pistachio and rose petals.

Notes

  • If you prefer to make a whole cake, this same quantity of mixture will fit an 8 inch round cake pan. Prepare the pan by brushing with oil then make the cake in the same way as the cupcakes, above. The whole cake will take nearer 45 minutes to cook - test in the same way by pricking in the middle. You will probably need more of the glaze than suggested here as this gives a light coverage of the cupcakes (as you can see in the pictures) so to give a fuller glaze of a whole cake, you will need nearer double.

Nutrition Information

Calories 319kcal (16%) Carbohydrates 40g (13%) Protein 5g (10%) Fat 16g (25%) Saturated Fat 9g (45%) Cholesterol 75mg (25%) Sodium 138mg (6%) Potassium 93mg (3%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 25g (50%) Vitamin A 316IU (6%) Vitamin C 3mg (3%) Calcium 41mg (4%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 12Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 319

% Daily Value*

Calories 319kcal 16%
Carbohydrates 40g 13%
Protein 5g 10%
Fat 16g 25%
Saturated Fat 9g 45%
Cholesterol 75mg 25%
Sodium 138mg 6%
Potassium 93mg 2%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 25g 50%
Vitamin A 316IU 6%
Vitamin C 3mg 3%
Calcium 41mg 4%
Iron 1mg 6%

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