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Persian Love Cake Recipe

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Persian love cake is full of amazing flavors. You’ll fall in love with the notes of cardamom, rose and saffron in this classic Persian dessert.

Persian bundt cake made with saffron and rose water. Topped with pistachios and rose petals.

Anything with the aroma of saffron and rose water will make you fall in love with life.

Every time I feel homesick, which is quite often because to me family is so important, I brew some Persian tea (there will be a step by step tutorial in my upcoming cookbook!) with some rose petals and it takes me back all the way back to Tehran, Iran.

I love to have my tea with something sweet, and this Persian Love Cake is such a lovely treat to have with a cup of tea or coffee, especially on a cold winter afternoon. Stay here so I can show you how to make this Persian cake filled with magical aromas of saffron, cardamom and rose water.

Love Cake Persian Style with rose, cardamom and saffron

This Persian inspired cake has become a hit in recent years and, in my humble opinion, it’s a fantastic dessert for Valentine’s Day. After all, nothing says “I love you” more than saffron and rose water. And as some say, this cake is “love at first bite”. I promise you and your sweetheart will love this delicate cake.

What is Persian love cake?

This is a beautiful cake flavored with the ingredients used in Persian style baking such as rose water, saffron, orange blossom water and cardamom. Once this beautiful cake is fully baked, I add a saffron glaze and top it with edible rose petals and crushed pistachios. It’s easy, pretty, and contains a world of stories in every bite.

What I love the most about this cake is the memories it brings. Our home was always enchanted with rose water and saffron aromas when I was a kid, and that’s why these aromas just bring me back to my childhood, to the time that life was simple and a bite of cake could turn a bad day into a good one. Just like now, because I still love cake just as much 🙂

Persian Love Cake recipe, full of rose water, cardamom and saffron.

What does this cake taste like?

We are talking cardamom, rosewater, orange blossom water, saffron, rose petals and pistachios. It can’t get any more Persian than this! This Persian love cake tastes like, how can I explain it? It tastes like one thousand untold stories, childhood days wrapped in laughter and hope, a lover’s hug after a long day or the magical feeling of “this is it.” I hope this gives you some sense of the flavors involved.

This love cake recipe is pretty easy to follow so if you have the ingredients at hand, it’s going to be very simple and you’ll soon be enjoying it with your family and loved ones. The Persian ingredients you need for this recipe are:

These ingredients are also available in Middle Eastern and Persian shops. You can find pistachios in any supermarket and, interestingly enough, I have seen edible rosebuds in Asian supermarkets.

A slice of this Persian Cake is full of rose water and saffron. This is also called Persian Love Cake.

Notes and tips to make Persian Love Cake:

  • Rose water, orange blossom water and cardamom are all very strong ingredients so make sure you won’t overuse it.
  • Store the remaining rose water and orange blossom water in a cool dark place such as a cabinet or pantry shelf.
  • This recipe for Persian love cake uses vegetable oil instead of butter to keep the focus of flavors on rose water and cardamom.
  • For the saffron glaze, mix powdered sugar with bloomed saffron. If the glaze is too thick, add one teaspoon milk to the glaze and stir well until it reaches the desired consistency.
  • This Persian love cake is perfect for Valentine’s day. If you would like to make it in a smaller batch, make the recipe with half the ingredients in a 8×8 square pan or an eight-inch round pan.

Make this Persian love bundt cake and you will understand what I mean by love at first bite!

You will fall in love with this Bundt Cake. Not only because it's filled with aromatic rosewater and cardamom, but also because it's full of love!

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4.88 from 16 votes

Persian Love Bundt Cake

You will fall in love with this Persian Love Bundt Cake. Not only because it's filled with aromatic rosewater and cardamom, but also because it's full of love! 
Course Dessert
Cuisine Persian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 247kcal
Author Shadi HasanzadeNemati

Ingredients

Persian Love Bundt Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup rosewater
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 2 tbsp orange blossom water
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Saffron Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp bloomed saffron

Topping:

  • Dried rose petals
  • crushed pistachios

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350f. Coat a bundt cake pan with non stick spray.
  • Mix sugar and eggs until fluffy. Add in vegetable oil, rosewater, ground cardamom and orange blossom water into the mixture and whisk well.
  • Add flour, baking powder and salt to the wet ingredients and gently whisk until combined.
  • Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 35 minutes until tester comes out clean.
  • Cool on a rack for 5 minutes then transfer into a serving dish.

Saffron Glaze:

  • Mix powdered sugar and bloomed saffron in a small bowl. If too thick, add a tablespoon of milk.

Nutrition

Calories: 247kcal

 

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Wajeeha

    5 stars
    I love the flavor of rose water, and this bundt cake looks absolutely delicious Shadi! If only we lived closer to each other, we’d have a food party everyday! 🙂

    Reply

  5. Amy

    4 stars
    Shadi, I absolutely love the direction you took the bundt cake theme! Such a wonderful combination of flavors and the cake itself is gorgeous.

    Reply

  9. Lisa | Garlic + Zest

    5 stars
    This cake is absolutely beautiful, Shadi! Seriously a triumph — and I’m loving the flavor combination — especially saffron and rosewater — two ingredients I don’t use enough of. I agree, it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day.

    Reply

  13. Emily F.

    What type of pistachios do you use for this? Raw unsalted? Dry Roasted and Unsalted? Dry Roasted and Salted? Making it today! Hopefully it turns out well!

    Reply

      • Emily Anne Fulfs

        oh thank you! I ended up using some dry roasted unsalted (since I already had them in the pantry!) It certainly smells lovely! and looks pretty too!

        Reply

        • Shadi HasanzadeNemati

          Sounds perfect! I’m glad you like it! If you can, take a photo and tag @unicornsinthekitchen on Instagram! 🙂

          Reply

  15. Alora

    I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you think I could make this in a loaf pan instead? I’m not sure if it would change it too much!

    Reply

  16. Kacey B

    5 stars
    I just made this cake and it is amazing. I haven’t cut a full slice, but tried little bits that stuck to the pan and it was incredible. The saffron glaze is fantastic too. Unfortunately I couldn’t find roses to decorate, but that’s ok. I had to skip the nuts this time since one of the people at the dinner party has a nut allergy. However, I will make again and I will get the nuts and roses on it!

    Reply

    • Shadi HasanzadeNemati

      Kacery, I’m so happy you love this cake! It’s made to bring love and smile to people, and it warms my heart to see that you’re happy with the results <3

      Reply

  17. Alex Frank

    5 stars
    This was amazing article i have ever read relate ” Persian Love Cake Recipe ” to be honest.
    But i missed up with things once i tried to do it with persian saffron, i will try again same thing according to your article, i hope you can reply back my comment if i get stuck then ask you question.

    I have ordered persian from this website they import their product direct from farm
    their website is : http://acesaffron.com

    Thanks
    For Reading

    Reply

  18. Karyn Narayan

    Hello is the orange blossam essential as I’m struggling to find it here in Australia! Is there a substitute you could recommend?

    Reply

  19. Allison

    5 stars
    I made this cake exactly as written except I baked in a springform pan. Totally terrific. Reminds me of the flavors from the Persian ice cream shop I used to visit in LA. Little kids also loved it.

    Reply

  20. hannah

    5 stars
    I want to have a white icing, would it work to switch the saffron and orange blossom water so to have the saffron in the sponge and an orange flavoured icing?

    Reply

  21. Christina

    5 stars
    it is delicious! I made it today and its very fluffy! Thanks for the recipe. Just say that it is sweeter than my taste, i think rosewater give the sense of sweetness. Congrats and greetings from Greece!

    Reply

    • Shadi HasanzadeNemati

      Hi Christina! Glad you like this Persian love cake, yes, rosewater does give a sense of sweetness! Love Greece and can’t wait to visit!

      Reply

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