Sunday, February 6, 2011

Persian Love Cake



This is one of my favorite desserts. The first time I made it was three years ago, for Valentine's Day. It is rich, without feeling heavy. As much as I love chocolate, this is a nice change. The saffron, cardamom, rose, and pistachios give the dessert an exotic flavor.


This was the first time I made sugared flowers, and I learned a few things. The egg whites started to go flat as I worked, so I had to keep re-beating them. I sprinkled too much sugar on the first few petals. Once dry, the sugar showed up much better.



Persian Love Cake
Adapted from Bon Appétit
June 2005


Candied Rose Petals
1 large egg white
¼ c sugar
Petals from 2 organic roses

Cake
1 c cake flour
14 Tbs superfine sugar, divided
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
3 large eggs, separated
6 Tbs water
¼ c canola oil
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
½ tsp ground cardamom

Frosting
2 c chilled heavy whipping cream
Pinch saffron threads
2/3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp rose water

2 Tbs natural, unsalted pistachios, chopped


For the candied rose petals:
Whisk egg white in a small bowl until foamy. Using a pastry brush, paint a light coat of egg white onto both sides of the rose petals. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Dry on a wire rack for at least 6 hours.

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 325˚. Butter the bottom and sides of 2 8-inch cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper; butter the parchment.

Sift flour, 7 Tbs of the sugar baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, water, canola oil, lemon zest, and cardamom. Add to the dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth.

Beat egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 7 Tbs of sugar. Beat until egg whites resemble thick marshmallow fluff. Fold the whites into the batter in 3 additions. Divide batter between the prepared pans. Bake until cakes are golden and toothpick inserted into the center comes clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans on racks for 15 minutes. Turn onto racks, peel off parchment, and cool completely.

For the frosting:
Combine ½ c cream and saffron in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, and let steep 20 minutes. Chill until cold.

Beat remaining cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar, rose water, and saffron cream and beat until peaks form.

Stack and frost cake with whipped cream. Chill at least 1 hour. Top with rose petals and pistachios.

10 comments:

  1. What a beautiful cake! I love the exotic flavors within it and the candied rose petals are gorgeous!

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  2. What a pretty cake and it looks scrumptious!!!!
    I'm stopping by from the Relax and Surf Sunday Blog Hop and I'm your newest follower. If you get a minute please stop by and follow back.
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    Have a super week,
    Ellie

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  3. This is a gorgeous cake and looks delicious. I may have to try it!

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  4. i just made this cake. so quick and easy! i almost at all the whipped cream with a spatula. thankfully i've got plenty left after the two layers for the cake. it's chilling now. can't wait to serve it after dinner!

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  5. This is the most beautiful cake! I am going to make it for my birthday, it has everything going for it from the pink rose petals to the rose water and whipping cream. Thank you for the post!

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  6. Absolutely GORGEOUS! I love the idea and the flavors going on here! I wish valentines was coming up again so I had a good excuse to try this out :(

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  7. This looks beyond delicious! I have to try it!

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  8. This cake looks heavenly! I'm definitely making it for my next anniversary <3 [although, I was taught to use powdered egg whites to avoid salmonella + to replace water with 100 proof vodka to speed the drying process when making candied flowers]

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  9. I just made the cake! Had a little trouble with the whipped cream part of it. It's chilling in the fridge right now. Will be putting the rose petals on soon and taking it to a New Year's party. Fingers crossed!

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