Persian Love Cake (GF)

This recipe was first created by Gerard Yaxley of Qom Restaurant, Sunshine Coast, some years ago and was converted to the Thermomix by the Victorian arm of Thermomix consultants (see here).

It is a lovely dessert cake, but some people have had varied success in making it finding that the batter may not always cook evenly, or that the cake falls apart or sticks to the base when trying to remove it from the tin.

I served it many moons ago to friends following the recipe exactly, and whilst we all agreed we loved it, we also found it was really sweet, almost too sweet (did I really say that!!!!).  So ever since then I have been meaning to get back to this recipe to have “a play” to see if I could iron out some of the issues … and this is the result.

This is not a very high cake so I found a 24cm round spring form cake tin (base measurement) is perfect.  If you use a bigger tin the cake will be thinner, and if you use a smaller tin the cake will be thicker, but then you have the issue of inconsistent cooking times and results (please use a ruler to measure the base of your tin to ensure it is 24cm wide).

I have suggested serving the cake with a drizzle of honey and a dollop of Greek yoghurt … but you can also combine the two and serve it drizzled over the cake slices if you prefer (use quantities based on your taste).

Edible rose petals are a lovely addition to the serving plate … I get mine online from Herbies (see here) but you can also find them more easily these days at specialty grocery stores.  But if you don’t have any, just leave them off the plate.

I have made this final version of the cake using the zest of one orange (I love orange and pistachios), but my taste testers said they liked it with or without the zest and we couldn’t decide what was better, so if you have an orange use it, but if not don’t worry as you will still create a lovely cake for your efforts.

The cake can be made a day ahead and kept in a sealed container for up to four days, although the nut topping will soften a little over this time.

I also like to toast my nuts and/or seeds before using them in some cakes or biscuits as it gives more flavour, and this is one instance when I do that … so to bake your nuts place them onto a baking tray and pop it into a pre-heated 180 degrees fan forced oven for 10 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely before proceeding with the recipe.

For the topping it is important the nuts are not toasted as they will toast while in the oven on top of the cake … you can also use a combination of pistachios and almonds, or just pistachios … I have given you a photo of each and like both options.

Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Persian Love Cake

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Servings: 1 cake

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE

• 100 g toasted pistachios
• 300 g toasted blanched almonds
  
  
• 100 g desiccated coconut
  
  
• 150 g raw caster sugar or plain caster sugar
• 150 g light muscovado sugar or brown sugar
• 150 g butter room temperature, cubed
• 4 x 60g eggs
• 250 g full fat plain Greek yoghurt
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tbls baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp rose water
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes or 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  
  

FOR TOPPING

• 100 g pistachios lightly chopped, untoasted
• or if preferred a combination of:
• 50 g pistachios lightly chopped and untoasted and
• 50 g slivered almonds untoasted
  
  

FOR SERVING

• Edible rose petals optional but nice
• Greek yoghurt
• Honey

Method

 

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
2. Grease and line base and sides of a 24cm (base measurement) round spring form cake tin (line base with a piece of baking paper that protrudes from the base so you can use that to remove the cake to a cooling rack when necessary)
3. Prepare topping in a small bowl so that it is ready to use, and put aside
4. Place nuts into TM bowl and mill 6 seconds / speed 9
5. Add the coconut and mix 5 seconds / reverse / speed 4, put aside
6. Add all the other ingredients to TM bowl and blend 10 seconds / speed 6, scrape around bowl and repeat 10 seconds / speed 6
7. Scrape around bowl, add nut and coconut mix and blend 10 seconds / speed 5, scrape around bowl and blend again for 10 seconds / speed 5
8. Pour batter into cake tin, smooth the top, and sprinkle on topping (sometimes I like to sprinkle the topping towards the edges leaving a little space in the middle, but you can sprinkle it over the whole top if you like)
9. Place cake into oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, turn tin around and continue for another 10 minutes until done when tested with a skewer (it takes exactly 1 hour 25 minutes in my oven) NB: whilst in the oven, the cake may get a couple of small cracks in the top as it bakes, but these will disappear as the cake cools and you will end up with a level top of toasted nuts on the cake)
10. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in tin for 30 minutes before removing to a cake rack to cool completely (to move to a cooling rack, simply unclip and remove the sides of the tin, then use the extended baking paper to simply slide the cake - still on the baking paper - onto the cooling rack to cool completely before removing the paper)
11. Serve drizzled with a little honey over the top of each slice, a spoonful of Greek yoghurt on the side, and a scattering of rose petals if desired
12. Cake will keep in an airtight container for up to four days, but the nut topping will soften a little over this time

Notes

This is not a very high cake so I found a 24cm round spring form cake tin (base measurement) is perfect. If you use a bigger tin the cake will be thinner, and if you use a smaller tin the cake will be thicker, but then you have the issue of inconsistent cooking times and results (please use a ruler to measure the base of your tin to ensure it is 24cm wide).

I have suggested serving the cake with a drizzle of honey and a dollop of Greek yoghurt … it is also lovely served with vanilla bean ice-cream in place of the yoghurt.

I have made this cake using the zest of an orange as I love that with pistachios, but it is just as nice without it so if you have an orange use it, but if not don't worry as the cake will still be lovely.

In this recipe I like to toast the nuts for more flavour ... so to bake your nuts place them onto a baking tray and pop into a pre-heated 180 degrees fan forced oven for 10 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely before proceeding with the recipe.

PLEASE NOTE: The nuts used in the topping are untoasted as they will toast up in the oven whilst the bake is baking. For the topping you can use either all pistachios, or a combination of pistachios and almonds ... whatever you prefer.