Gluten & Dairy Free Persian Love Cake Recipe

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 22cm round cake dish with baking paper.

Combine the almond meal, polenta, baking powder, the freshly grated nutmeg, ground cardamom and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

In a large bowl beat the dairy-free butter or coconut oil along with both of the sugars using an electric beater [or in the bowl of a stand mixer if you are lucky!], until the ingredients are completely incorporated. Add the eggs and beat until just combined, then add the coconut yogurt and the orange zest and beat again. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and beat on slow until completely smooth – making sure to scrap any excess mixture off the sides of your bowl with a spatula.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the surface of the using the back of your spatula.

Scatter the slivered pistachios evenly over the surface of the cake the place the cake into the oven to bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, place each of the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 2-3 minutes more after the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat and set aside until the cake has completely baked.

While the cake is still warm, use the same skewer to poke holes all over the surface of the cake. Make sure that you touch the bottom of the tin every time you ‘poke’ a new hole into the cake. Pour the orange blossom sugar syrup all over the cake and revel in the fact that you have just created one of the most moist cakes known to man.

To garnish…

You’ll notice that we’ve topped our Gluten & Dairy Free Persian Love Cake with candied orange peel and crystallised rose nibs. In hindsight the orange peel was unnecessary, but the rose nibs were really good addition! Using crystallised rose nibs is a wonderful way of introducing florals into your cooking; they’re bright and colourful, sugar-coated and delightfully crunchy.

What’s not to love?!