Persian Love Cake
Fragrant cake made from almond flour and scented with cardamom and rose water.
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
Glaze Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 inch cake pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper. I used a smaller 6.5 inch pan here since I wanted it to fit on this particular cake stand. If you use a smaller pan, you may need to bake for a few minutes longer.
  2. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and eggs together until it becomes light in color, about a couple of minutes. Add the rose water and beat to combine.
  3. Combine the flour, almond flour, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. With the mixer running on slow speed, slowly add the dry ingredients in and beat until just combined.
  4. Pour into the pan and smooth the top of the batter flat with a spatula and bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cake to cool before glazing.
  5. To make the glaze, whisk the powdered sugar and milk together. Add a few small pinches of freeze dried pitaya powder to the glaze or add a drop of red food dye. The glaze should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add more milk. If too thin, add more powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth. Pour over the center of the cake using an offset spatula to move the glaze over the edges. Break the leaves off the rose buds and scatter on top.
Recipe Notes

A note about rose water. The potency of rose water varies widely from brand to brand. This cake should be light on the rose scent. In my opinion, more than that and it tastes like you’re eating perfume– yuck. The brand I used in this recipe is Nielsen Massey, which I have found to be much stronger than other brands. If you’re not sure how much to add, do a little at a time (about 1/2 a teaspoon) and taste the batter as you go.