Pistachio and Orange Cake with Sweet Saffron Syrup

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This soft, moist and fragrant pistachio and orange cake, scented with rosewater, cardamom and saffron, pays homage to a traditional Persian Love Cake. This naturally gluten-free cake is exceptionally easy to make and is as wonderful eaten with a cup of tea or coffee as it is when served for dessert, ideally with some Greek yoghurt or labneh and some fresh berries.

How to make this Pistachio and Orange Cake with Sweet Saffron Syrup

Where is this recipe from?

I was very kindly gifted some Iranian saffron recently and I wanted to return the kind gesture with a home-made cake using the saffron. I remembered seeing recipes for Persian Love Cakes, but on researching them, I found a range of recipes which varied quite considerably. So instead, I used my drizzle cake recipe and made a few adjustments to incorporate the flavours and ingredients of the area. The changes I made include:

• replacing the flour with a mixture of pistachios, almonds and semolina.
• reducing the raising agents to ensure an even rise. The nuts do not have as much structure as flour and therefore fewer agents are needed. Too much and the cake will rise very quickly and then sink.
• replacing the butter with a mild flavoured olive oil, as is more typical of the area.
• introducing the flavours of the region with cardamom, rosewater, oranges, and of course, the saffron in the syrup.

Collect together the ingredients

Dry ingredients:

• pistachio nuts (or replace with ground almonds and chopped/flaked or slivered almonds)
• ground almonds
• semolina
• cardamom powder
• baking powder
• fine salt
• caster sugar

Wet ingredients:

• mild flavoured olive oil
• eggs
• plain Greek yoghurt
• rose water
• orange zest

Syrup:

• orange juice
• saffron threads
• caster sugar
• rose water

Topping:

• dried rose petals or icing sugar

How to make this fabulous Persian inspired cake:

1. Make the cake: tip 50g pistachios into a food processor and blitz until finely ground, like ground almonds. Keep an eye on them – if you process too much, the pistachios will turn into pistachio butter.
2. Roughly chop the remaining 20g pistachios and set aside.
3. Dry ingredients: measure all the dry ingredients, including the 50g ground pistachios, into a mixing bowl large enough to contain all the ingredients. Stir to mix.
4. Wet ingredients: next, add the wet ingredients and beat with a balloon whisk until incorporated. It should take only 30 seconds to a minute, but you may need to stop half-way to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
5. Zest the oranges directly over the top of the bowl and fold in. By zesting directly over the top you are able to catch all the oils from the zest and hence ensure maximum flavour. You could add the orange zest with the wet ingredients but I find it gets caught on the balloon whisk. I’d rather all the flavour stay in the cake.
6. Bake: pour the cake batter into the lined cake tin, level the surface and sprinkle over the chopped pistachios. Cook in the centre of the preheated oven for 45 – 55 minutes or until cooked. It is cooked when:
   • the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
   • a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
   • the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin.
7. Make the syrup: as the cake is cooking, squeeze the oranges and mix the juice with the saffron strands. Set aside to bloom for 20 minutes.
8. After 20 minutes, strain the juice into a small saucepan, pressing on the saffron strands to extract all the flavour. If you have more than 100ml juice, reduce until you have the correct amount. A little less is not a problem.
9. Weigh in the sugar and heat over a moderate temperature until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and add the rose water.
10. Drizzle the hot, cooked cake with the syrup: as soon as the cake comes out of the oven, puncture it all over with a cake tester or skewer. Spoon or brush the syrup over the cake, trying to let the middle absorb it as well as the sides. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 30 minutes and then use the baking parchment to lift the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
11. To serve: sprinkle with dried rose petals or lightly sieve over some icing sugar. Serve sliced simply with a cup of tea or coffee. It also makes a fabulous dessert with some Greek yoghurt or labneh and fresh berries.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.