I’m pretty sure I know why this is called Persian love cake – because everyone who eats it loves it and has seconds! I made this and the Basque burnt cheesecake for our Beer ‘n Books club and this one was the stand out. It’s super easy and keeps well too, I snacked on the left overs the next morning while the kettle was boiling and then poof it was gone. Using fresh nutmeg is key – the flavour is super important. Just stare out the window while you’re grating the hard nuggets of nutmeg, it will be done before you know it. I would imagine substituting the nutmeg for ground cardamom or even a tiny dash of rosewater would be good too. All variations I will try, I just need more occasions to bake for others. Who wants to come over for dinner?
Ingredients
- 3 cups almond meal
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 120g butter, softened
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 250g Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbs freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 cup pistachios roughly chopped
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C. Using your fingers, rub the almond meal, sugars, butter and 1 tsp salt in a bowl until you have coarse crumbs. Tip half the mixture into your lined springform pan* and press the base down with your fingers.
- Add egg, yoghurt and nutmeg into the remaining crumb mixture and with a wooden spoon beat together until creamy. Pour into tin, smooth the top and sprinkle the edges with pistachios. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until golden. Cool completely in the pan** before serving with extra yoghurt.
* Mine was in use with the cheesecake, hence the photo using a loose bottomed tart tin.
** Since I didn’t line my tin, the butter and sugar had caramelised in the edges so I couldn’t easily disrobe my cake. I warmed it slightly in the often to soften the sides and that worked a treat.
