Love Stories – A Persian Love Cake
Love is precious and this Persian Love Cake is the perfect way to show a little love to your friends and family.
The stars were aligned the night I met Neil. It was February 10th, 1989 and it was at a Moroccan themed party held by the Sephardic Educational Center. My brother’s friend Yvette encouraged me to come and my mother gave me the final nudge.
I really, really didn’t want to go. I brought my cousin Simy with me for support and we promised each other that we would leave early if it was really awful. We made so many friends that night. And we were among the last to leave.
Soon after we started dating, I invited Neil for dinner with my parents. My mother prepared most of the meal. I was in charge of dessert. I painted a thin layer of melted chocolate on the inside of foil cupcake holders, then I let them harden in the refrigerator. After the chocolate hardened, I peeled away the foil. I whipped cream and mixed in raspberries and blueberries and strawberries and piled them into the chocolate cups. I shaved chocolate over the berry cups for a very impressive dessert.
Neil loved them and asked where I bought them. He couldn’t believe that I had made them. I think it made him love me just that little bit more!
We have been married for 34 years and Neil is still impressed and appreciative of my cooking and baking.
Sharon and I had the best time baking this Persian Almond Love Cake. We hope you bake it for this Shabbat Valentine’s Day and save the recipe for Passover!
—Rachel
I met Alan at a singles event at the Beverly Hills Country Club. I was talking to Roger, a very handsome banker in a fine Italian suit with embroidered cuffs and a Rolex watch. He wasn’t Jewish and he was a player. I saw Alan watching me from across the room and all of a sudden, he joined the conversation and Roger was out of the picture.
Months later, Alan told me that he knew Roger and wasn’t about to let him get the prettiest girl in the room. Shameless flattery. Of course, I married him.
The first time I made dessert for Alan was for a picnic at the Hollywood Bowl and it also involved melted chocolate because I made chocolate covered strawberries.
Over the years, Rachel and I have grown to love almond cakes. They feel slightly healthier than cakes made with white flour. They are the perfect foil for any flavor and ingredient we can think of adding—lemon, orange, vanilla, chocolate, dried fruit or nuts. This is our version of a Persian Love Cake, a poetic name for a cake that incorporates so many ingredients prized in the ancient Persian kitchen.
Our recipe includes nuts — almond flour, slivered almonds and pistachios — which symbolize wealth and abundance. There is citrus — orange juice and orange rind in the honey syrup glaze and orange zest in the batter. The cool cardamom in our syrup represents warmth, sensuality and hospitality. The exquisite pale pink baby rosebuds that decorate the cake convey a message of love, beauty and the divine.
Love is precious and this Persian Love Cake is the perfect way to show a little love to your friends and family.
—Sharon
Persian Almond Love Cake
Syrup
1/3 cup honey
Juice of 1 orange
Slice of orange rind
1 tsp ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 tsp rose water, optional
In a small pot, warm the honey, orange juice, orange rind and cardamom to a slow boil over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon to ensure ingredients are combined. When the syrup is boiling, remove from the stovetop and set aside.
Cake
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup avocado oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups almond flour
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
Garnish
1 cup roasted, unsalted pistachios
1/4 cup dried baby rosebuds
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray a 9 inch round nonstick cake pan, then place a circle cutout of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then add the oil and whisk to combine.
Add the vanilla, salt, sugar and baking powder and stir the batter until it is creamy and pale yellow.
Add the almond flour, orange zest and almonds and slowly beat until well combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out dry, cake is ready.
Allow the cake to cool, then remove from the pan onto a cake stand. Pour the warm syrup evenly over the cake.
Garnish with pistachios and rosebuds.
Cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food.
