• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

Small book

My cookbook "Dinner" now available!

  • My RecipeTin
  • My cookbook!
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Iconic + cult classics
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish
      • Salad Meals
    • Quick and Easy
    • Soups
    • One Pot
    • Stews
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Salads & veg
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice (all)
      • Fried rice recipes
      • Rice (plain)
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cakes
      • Candy
      • Cheesecakes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
      • Ice cream
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • Japanese
        • Korean
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • Cocktails
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
    • Cookbook recipes
  • Collections
  • About
    • Me
    • RecipeTin Meals
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Sweet

Persian Love Cake

By:Nagi
Published:5 Oct '18Updated:13 Nov '20
196 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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!

A beautiful Persian Love Cake (gluten free) made with semolina and almond meal soaked with a lemon syrup with a touch of optional rosewater.

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!

Close up of a slice of Persian Love 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!!)

How to make Persian Love Cake

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

A beautiful Persian Love Cake that happens to be gluten free, made with semolina and almond meal. The best part is pouring the syrup over the cake so it soaks all the way through!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

A beautiful Persian Love Cake (gluten free) made with semolina and almond meal soaked with a lemon syrup with a touch of optional rosewater.

Persian Love Cake

Author: Nagi
Prep: 15 minutes mins
Cook: 1 hour hr
Total: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Cakes
Persian
4.84 from 61 votes
Servings12
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 131
Recipe video above. A beautiful Persian cake with a lovely subtle citrus flavour and hint of spice. For an authentic Persian flavour, don't skip the rosewater! They differ in strength so start with a small amount and adjust to your taste - too much can be overpowering. 

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:

Calories: 423cal (21%)Carbohydrates: 53g (18%)Protein: 9g (18%)Fat: 20g (31%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Cholesterol: 51mg (17%)Sodium: 26mg (1%)Potassium: 250mg (7%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Sugar: 33g (37%)Vitamin A: 325IU (7%)Vitamin C: 3mg (4%)Calcium: 134mg (13%)Iron: 2.1mg (12%)
Keywords: Persian Love Cake
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

LIFE OF DOZER

Me – in Vietnam.

Dozer – with the golden retriever boarder, running wild with his friends.

Previous Post
Persian Lamb Shanks
Next Post
Shaoxing Wine – Chinese Cooking Wine

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Related Posts

Overhead photo of Basque cheesecake

Basque Cheesecake

Easy Lemon Bars photo

Easy Lemon Bars

Stack of Rocky Road

Rocky Road

More Sweet

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




196 Comments

  1. Michelle says

    August 29, 2023 at 7:40 pm

    5 stars
    Agi this cake looks so delicious. Is this cake gluten free as I want to make this for my son who has gluten intolerance

    Reply
  2. Linden says

    June 22, 2023 at 5:04 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely wondeful cake – even better if you double the syrup and use orange juice instead of lemon.

    Reply
  3. Anna says

    June 7, 2023 at 6:57 am

    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.

    Reply
  4. Jo says

    June 5, 2023 at 7:00 pm

    Had to make this gluten free to suit family members, so I replaced the semolina with buckwheat flour. Turned out perfectly well. Lovely cake.

    Reply
  5. Chris T says

    May 31, 2023 at 8:39 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
  6. Julie says

    May 8, 2023 at 8:52 pm

    5 stars
    Gave some to a mate this was her comment
    Thank you so much for the cake! It’s oh my god delicious🍰👏😊

    Reply
  7. Sharlene says

    March 19, 2023 at 6:06 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Sharlene says

      March 19, 2023 at 6:13 am

      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

      Reply
      • Tania Cox says

        July 20, 2023 at 3:51 pm

        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.

        Reply
  8. Iluka says

    February 14, 2023 at 3:54 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
  9. Shilpa says

    December 22, 2022 at 1:45 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
  10. Sansula says

    December 19, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    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.

    Reply
  11. Janelle says

    December 16, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    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?

    Reply
  12. Dona says

    October 31, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    4 stars
    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?

    Reply
  13. Vilia says

    October 23, 2022 at 8:08 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
  14. Miranda says

    October 11, 2022 at 12:34 am

    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?

    Reply
    • Shani says

      June 11, 2023 at 1:05 pm

      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.

      Reply
    • Jill Stephenson says

      November 2, 2022 at 7:02 pm

      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

      Reply
  15. Nina says

    September 12, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    5 stars
    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 🙂

    Reply
    • Nina says

      September 12, 2022 at 6:08 pm

      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?

      Reply
      • Jill Stephenson says

        November 2, 2022 at 7:04 pm

        I just sent reply to above person with the same problem so google has a lot of answers to this problem

        Reply
  16. Beatriz says

    September 6, 2022 at 2:24 pm

    Hello Nagi, Could I make this cake in advance and freeze without syrup and then thaw and add the syrup?

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      July 29, 2023 at 2:06 pm

      Hi Beatriz, did you ever get an answer to this or try freezing, I’d like to do the same

      Reply
  17. SD says

    July 24, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    1 star
    I made this cake today, but it didn’t turn out at all well. I am not sure why. I followed the recipe exactly, but the batter was very wet. I baked it for an extra hour in 10 minute increment s, applied the syrup and let it cool for an hour. It is still mushy. Any suggestions would be most welcome. (This is the first time I have made a Recipetineats recipe which didn’t turn out well.)

    Reply
  18. Lorraine says

    July 16, 2022 at 11:53 am

    Once again Nagi you have made me into an amazing cook. The Persian Love Cake was fantastic, it tasted as good as it looked. I had my in laws over for dinner and they were totally impressed. Thank you for all recipes, you have enhanced my cooking skills and got me through many difficult lockdowns.

    Reply
  19. Michelle says

    July 4, 2022 at 5:58 pm

    5 stars
    This cake is Devine! I had wanted to make if for ages… a friend made it for a girls weekend away and all raved about it. I made it for my farewell party on Saturday night and I am above impressed with this recipe. Delicious, looks amazing and everyone is asking for the recipe. I’ll be sharing for sure. Nagi, your recipes are the best! Thank you x

    Reply
  20. IRENE says

    July 2, 2022 at 9:11 pm

    5 stars
    I cooked the Persian Lamb shank (https://www.recipetineats.com/persian-lamb-shank-recipe/ ), the Persian rice (https://www.recipetineats.com/persian-saffron-rice-tachin/comment-page-3/?unapproved=1323294&moderation-hash=ca9ff8338e496653240b26ee9b7406c0#comment-1323294 ) and finished off with this Persian love cake (made by my 12 year old daughter). No time to make a Persian salad/veg so we just had plain salad.

    Loved our Persian dinner!

    Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On

What's for Dinner?

Close up of beef enchiladas in a baking dish, fresh out of the oven

Beef Enchiladas

Butter Chicken served over basmati rice in a bowl, ready to be served

Butter Chicken

Overhead photo of 2 black bowls with Chinese Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing, ready to be eaten

Chinese Chicken Salad

Salisbury Steak recipe in skillet.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken - 7 ingredient magic. The coconut fragrance is heavenly! recipetineats.com

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken

Fast prep. Big flavours!

Never miss a recipe

Back to Top
  • Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
  • Food Bloggers Center
  • Help
  • Contact Us
  • Image Use
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits Maintained by Zao Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled © RecipeTin Eats 2023 · All Rights Reserved Back to Top