Persian Love Cake Cupcakes

Persian love cake is a wonderfully aromatic cake flavored with rosewater, lemon and often cardamom. These Persian love cake cupcakes allow you to enjoy the delicious flavors in pretty and delicious individual servings!

Persian cooking has ancient roots, and while it has some similarities with neighboring cuisines, it also uses some distinct flavors.

Pomegranate is very popular, for example, such as in the classic stew fesenjan. You’ll also see many dishes combining a range of herbs like dill and cilantro, like kuku sabzi (Persian herb frittata) and sabzi polow mahi (herb rice with fish).

When it comes to Persian desserts and baking, some of the most common flavors are cardamom, saffron and rosewater.

And, this delicious treat has them all.

How did Persian love cake get its name?

It’s not entirely clear where the name came from. Many seem to believe it is based on a legend of a girl baking a cake with magical powers to win over a prince she was in love with.

While Persians do love their stories, it’s a little hard to tell if this is the origin of the name. After all, there’s no consistent ending to it. Some say it worked, others that he rebuffed the attempt, and others that he ate it then died from being allergic to an ingredient.

Another report I saw was that the name was first coined by Yasmin Khan, a British/Iranian/Pakistani food writer. Less interesting, but maybe more realistic.

I also read that the cake itself is, in fact, a relatively recent creation to highlight some favorite Iranian ingredients. So much so, that some Iranians are not aware of it and you will not find it in traditional cookbooks.

Love is an important theme in Iranian storytelling, and I imagine it might be just as true that the story was made to fit the cake.

Whatever the origins of the name (in English at least), there’s no denying that this is a beautifully flavored and pretty looking cake. With aromatic flavors inside, and decorative pistachio and rose petals on top, there’s a lot to love.

Variations in Persian love cake

Even being a relatively recent creation (assuming that’s the case), there are a few variations in what goes in to this Persian cake.

Rosewater is in pretty much all versions, and most use some or all of the following as well:

• cardamom
• lemon
• almonds
• saffron
• orange blossom water

Most recipes use at least part oil, if not all, rather than butter to help these aromatic flavors come through. Some use yogurt to help the cake stay moist, while others use a sweet drizzle over the warm cake (or both).

My Persian love cake cupcakes recipe

Here I’ve kept the key flavors, while avoiding making the list too long, and I’ve made them in cupcake form.

Making Persian love cake cupcakes is easier for us to get through (as I can make a smaller batch) and it’s fun to have ready-formed individual servings.

There are a couple things to bear in mind using rosewater, cardamom and saffron. All of them have pretty distinct flavors and so you want to make sure you don’t use too much. A little goes a long way, so don’t be tempted to add more until you have at least tried the recipe as it is once.

Also, rosewater can vary in strength, so if you know yours is on the stronger side, you may want to reduce the quantity used here.

Why is there both a drizzle and a glaze?

While it may seem an extra step, adding both the drizzle and glaze is definitely worthwhile, in my opinion.

The drizzle helps to add a little extra moisture and also adds the saffron flavor (true, you could bake it in, but I think it works better this way).

If you don’t really like the flavor of saffron, you can make the syrup without saffron instead. However, it is one of the quintessential Persian flavors, so some would argue it’s a must in there somewhere.

The glaze, meanwhile, is more decorative and to add a final bright flavor. Some make the glaze with rosewater or saffron, which you could also do, but I think lemon is my favorite for its fresh citrus finish.

I only added a very light glaze to these rather than a true frosting. You could easily double the glaze to make it a bit of a thicker coating.

I also admit to maybe being a little too eager to put the glaze on when the cupcakes were still very slightly warm, so it ran a bit more than I would typically want.

Hopefully you may have more patience, and so it will stay more to the middle. However, I think when you decorate with the pistachio and rose petals, then take a bite, you soon ignore it!

These Persian love cake cupcakes are wonderfully flavorful and aromatic. Less sweet than your typical cupcake, but just as tender and moist. And with flavors that transport you to ancient Persia, whether to a legend or otherwise.

Continue to Content

Yield: 12 cupcakes (or an 8 inch round cake*)

Persian Love Cake Cupcakes

Print

Persian love cake is an aromatic cake flavored with rosewater, lemon and cardamom. This cupcake version allows you to enjoy the flavors in single servings!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Bake Time 20 minutes

Decorating Time 15 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

For the 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 Tbsp rosewater**
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• zest of 1 small lemon (approx 1 tbsp)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (140g)
• ½ cup almond flour (55g)
• ½ cup fine semolina (75g)
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

For the drizzle

• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1/8 tsp saffron (approx - 2 pinches), ground

For the glaze

• ½ cup powdered sugar (55g)
• 4 tsp lemon juice

To decorate

• 1 Tbsp pistachios (approx)
• 1 tsp edible rose petals (approx)

Instructions

To make the cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 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 3/4 full.
6. Bake the cupcakes for around 20-22 minutes until a cocktail stick/toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the 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 the glaze / to finish

1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to form a 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.

** Rosewater can vary in strength, so if you know yours is on the stronger side, you may want to reduce the quantity used here.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, We earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Saffron Threads
• 
  Bob's Red Mill Semolina Flour
• 
  Dried Rose Petals, Culinary-grade

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 cupcake
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 299Total Fat: 17g

Caroline

Caroline lived and traveled various places before settling in Cambridge, MA. She still fits in some travel with her family, but often settles for traveling through food instead. She shares her recipes at CarolinesCooking.com, where there’s plenty of international inspiration using seasonal ingredients, as well as creative recipes for all to enjoy. Caroline is originally from Scotland, where she grew up hiking and skiing, both things she still loves to do when her two young boys give her a chance. You can follow along with her cooking adventures on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

www.carolinescooking.com/