You’re going to fall in love with this Persian Love Cake!!! Made with semolina and almond meal with a hint of citrus and subtle spices, this cake is soaked with hot syrup to make it moist and add sweetness.
Straightforward to make, a beautiful cake for afternoon tea or to finish off a Persian or Middle Eastern themed meal – try these slow cooked Persian Lamb Shanks and Crispy Saffron Rice!
Welcome to the 3rd and final instalment of PERSIAN WEEK! A week in which I’m sharing 4 recipes so you can make your very own Persian feast at home!!
Here’s what’s on the menu for your Persian Feast:
-
Persian Lamb Shank recipe – the main event! Braised until fall apart tender in a beautiful aromatic broth. Incredibly easy with every day spices you’ll find at any supermarket!
-
Persian Saffron Rice – that golden, crispy beauty… and it tastes as amazing as it looks!!!
-
Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad (in the Lamb Shanks recipe)- lovely and fresh, with a little sprinkle of Sumac for a touch of Persian exoticness; and
-
Persian L♥ve Cake (today’s recipe)- made with semolina and almond meal, this cake is soaked with a lemon-rosewater syrup, with a hint of citrus and spice flavours. You’re going to LOVE this Persian Looooove cake!
AND SO THE STORY GOES…
A Persian girl madly in love with a Prince made a beautiful cake with magical powers to make him fall in love with her.
As for whether it worked – I never got to the bottom of that. Some say they lived happily ever after, others say he never returned her love – though hopefully she got to eat the whole cake herself.
Now – I can’t promise that this cake has magical powers to woo your secret crush (whether it be George Clooney or a boy band) but I can promise that it tastes as enchanting as that story (despite the unsatisfying ending to the fairytale!!)
ABOUT THIS PERSIAN LOVE CAKE
This is a cake is made with semolina and almond meal instead of the usual flour. It has subtle spicing from cardamom and nutmeg, a hint of citrus from orange and some lovely tang from lemon in the syrup.
Most people say that the best part about making this cake is pouring the syrup over the cake when it’s fresh out of the oven so it soaks right through, adding sweetness as well as moisture.
I’d argue that and say that the most satisfying part is jabbing lots and lots of holes in the cake.
It’s totally not in the spirit of a Persian Love Cake. More Basic Instinct, really.
But I cannot lie. It’s my favourite part! (Other than eating it, of course). – Nagi x
PS Decorated the Persian way with dried edible rose petals from Essential Ingredient, my favourite gourmet food store. I spend hours in there every time I go and always treat myself to something a little special. Last time it was the pictured rose petals. 🌹🌹🌹
A PERSIAN FEAST
Persian Lamb Shanks | Tachin – Saffron Baked Rice | Persian Chopped Salad (in Lamb Shanks recipe) | This Persian L♥ve Cake
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Persian Love Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200g) almond meal (almond flour)
- 1 1/2 cups (165g) semolina
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1.5 tsp ground cardamom
- 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar , packed
- 3/4 cup (150g) white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (250g) plain yoghurt
- Zest of one orange
- 50g / 2 oz raw pistachios , chopped or slivered (or almonds)
Syrup:
- 1/3 cup (85 ml) lemon juice
- 1/3 cup (70g) white sugar
- 1 tsp+ rosewater (adjust to taste, start with less)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan). Grease and line a 22cm/9" cake pan.
- Mix almond meal, semolina, baking powder, nutmeg and cardamon in bowl.
- Beat butter and both sugars with an electric beater until incorporated. Add eggs, beat until smooth. Then add yoghurt and orange zest, beat until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients. Stir until mixed through.
- Pour into pan, smooth surface. Scatter over pistachios.
- Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Poke 30 - 40 holes all over the cake using a skewer (poke all the way through). Pour warm syrup over while cake still hot. Leave to soak for 1 hour+ before removing from pan. Cool then slice to serve.
- Pictured decorated with dried rose petals. Alternative: no decorations (pistachios alone look great!), dust with icing / confectionary sugar, of a Lemon Glaze (use this one)
Syrup:
- Place ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer and stir to dissolve sugar. Simmer for 2 minutes. Keep warm (or reheat) for pouring.
Recipe Notes:
- General note: cakes made without flour like this can tend to be a bit crumbly and dry. This cake is not - the moisture comes from the syrup poured over the cake while it's hot!
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Me – in Vietnam.
Dozer – with the golden retriever boarder, running wild with his friends.
My absolute favourite cake. I have to find a replacement for the semolina to make it gluten-free. Someone suggested buckwheat flour, but that may be too strong a flavour. Also, if I wanted to replace the almonds with a different nut, which would be best? Walnuts, cashews and pistachios are used in Middle Eastern food. Would any work?
I’ve made this cake several times and it never fails. I substitute the semolina with GF flour and have used both lemon and orange juice in the syrup. Both delicious. I think hazelnut meal might also work as a substitute for almond meal.
I made this cake as the dessert for a middle eastern themed lunch. I used a Bundt tin to avoid the collapse that others had mentioned in their reviews. Cooked for 50 minutes, it could have possibly had 5 minutes less. Very tasty and looks quite impressive. I decorated with dried rose petals, pistachios and served with honeyed yogurt.
Could these be made as cupcakes? If so how long would I cook them for? Or made in dariole moulds (like a sticky date pudding mould)
I think perhaps it should be a tsp of baking powder rather than a tbsp? No one else seems to be having a problem, but that doesn’t seem right to me…
I was totally wrong. followed the recipe to the letter and it was great. My mistake!
This is a stunning crowd pleaser.
Not too sweet . I served with Yoghurt or icecream.
I have been asked to make it for a friend’s birthday (she is coeliac).
I also have a friend who is coeliac. I wouldn’t make it for her as is. Semolina is wheat. Si so it has gluten.
Agi this cake looks so delicious. Is this cake gluten free as I want to make this for my son who has gluten intolerance
No, the semolina is not gluten free unfortunately.
Absolutely wondeful cake – even better if you double the syrup and use orange juice instead of lemon.
Hello Nagi. You probably haven’t tried, but is there a substitute you can recommend for semolina to attempt to turn this beautiful cake into a gluten free cake or would you say it’s not possible? Thank you.
Had to make this gluten free to suit family members, so I replaced the semolina with buckwheat flour. Turned out perfectly well. Lovely cake.
I came to the comments to see if anyone tried a gluten free option. Thanks Jo this was very helpful!
This cake was delicious – I didn’t put the pistachios on top of the cake during cooking, did a basic icing of orange juice & icing sugar,
And topped that with fresh pomegranate seeds, rose petals and pistachio
Gave some to a mate this was her comment
Thank you so much for the cake! It’s oh my god delicious🍰👏😊
Can I sub regular AP flour for the semolina? I’ve been scouring the comments section but I haven’t found this answered… Nagi? Anybody? Planning to make this for my Persian Father in Law’s birthday.
Or can I sub whole wheat flour? I really don’t want to buy semolina just for this since I won’t have any other uses for it
I read your question and it is a few months later and am dying to know what you did. Did you buy the semolina? Did you use whole wheat flour? It is like a cliffhanger and I need to know.
Absolutely delicious, as a pastry chef, this is one of those recipes that’s just right up there with the best I’ve had. I had my sister around on valentines day and figured it was the perfect time to give this one a go, and i got her to help, luckily I read back over the ingredients as we’d almost missed the baking powder. So unfortunately it sunk a little due to overmixing, but that didn’t affect the taste one bit.
awesome👌I have baked this few times before and every time got there rave reviews.Thanks a lot for this and many more great recipes.I have used your website for many recipes.Actually to be honest if I want to make something first I search your website only😊I was just wondering how can I show you my cake’s picture to you🤔
Thank you once again.
This is the 2nd time I’ve baked this cake and it was delicious.
The cake is very easy to make, took me less than 15 mins for the preparation before putting it in the oven.
This looks delicious! Any tips for making it ahead, would it dry out? Should I make some extra sauce and pour it over just before serving?
Made the Persian love cake for my friend’s dinner party. Everyone loved it. I found it was bit dry. How can I make it less dry? Any suggestions?
I bake the cake for Deepavali day for my Indian Friend. I follow exactly and turn out beautiful. The texture and the taste heavenly. Thank you for sharing the recipe
I always love Nagi’s recipes 😋. For once I have not been able to get a result. My cake always sinks at the 40 minute mark. I have adjusted heat, and baking tins but no improvement. Anyone with a tip on how to fix this?
I heard about Bake Even Cake Strips preventing the sinking of cakes.
So I wrapped a couple of damp socks around the outside of my baking tin and it worked – flat top ! Have done this successfully twice – I think I’m on a winner!
And of course Nagi’s recipe is perfection. This cake is requested by my husband whenever we have guests over.
Hi Miranda, mine did too at the 40 min mark 😞. I feel the recipe balance is just out a bit, not enough semolina or almond meal to provide enough structure for the rise.
I just googled why cakes sink in the middle and there’s quite a few reasons why it can happen so have a Google and see if one of the reasons applies to your cake. Hope this helps
This is my go to cake! Every single gathering I make this cake and it is finished in less than 30 seconds! I made double batch and placed in muffin tins instead of cake pan for a party I had with lots of guests – came out perfect (took less time then the cake). Just wondering, is there any substitute for semolina? I am going overseas and it’s not as common to find it in the supermarkets like Australia. Would really appreciate it 🙂
Also, my cakes tend to go down in the middle, why is that and what can I do so it comes out smooth on top?
I just sent reply to above person with the same problem so google has a lot of answers to this problem