Persian Love Cake-Inspired Cupcakes Recipe

Though Persian love cake is perfect for serving on Valentine's Day, it doesn't actually have ties to this holiday. The origins of the recipe are subject to debate. Some people tell a story of a young woman in ancient Persia who baked a magical cake to make a prince fall in love with her. Depending on the storyteller, the prince either fell in love with her, rejected her, or died from a saffron allergy. Since many Iranians have never heard of this cake, it's likely it's a more modern creation, perhaps developed by Yasmin Khan, a British writer of Iranian heritage, who wrote that the floral aroma of the cake and the bright colors of the topping remind her of a Persian garden in springtime.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for Persian love cake in cupcake form. These are not your average cupcakes. Moist, sweet, rich, and aromatic, they're simply delicious. A mix of Persian ingredients — almond, rosewater, lemon, cardamom, and saffron — flavor the cupcakes. The lovely complex flavor is noticeable at first bite, but it's harmonious and enjoyable. The saffron flavors only the glaze, and while the glaze has a bold flavor when tasted alone, it's perfect as part of a bite of the whole cupcake. Last but not least, rich and salty chopped pistachios and vibrantly colored dried rose petals take these sweet treats to the next level, making them as visually stunning as they are delicious.

For the cake batter, you will need softened unsalted butter, caster sugar, medium eggs, canola oil, rosewater, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, ground cardamom, and salt. To soften butter, let it sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. The almond flour can be blanched or natural, and you can choose to substitute almond meal for a richer flavor if desired.

For the glaze, gather saffron threads, warm water, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Finally, the topping requires chopped salted pistachios and edible rose petals. We've used the petals from dried buds, but you can use fresh organic petals if you have them.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric beater until creamed and fluffy.

Add the eggs and beat on low until smooth.

Add the oil, rosewater, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat on low until just mixed. Set aside.

In a second mixing bowl add the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt, and stir to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the bowl of wet ingredients a little at a time while stirring until just combined. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the muffin tin, evenly dividing it between the 12 cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pan and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are almost cool, start making the glaze. Roll the saffron between your fingers to crush it before placing it in a small bowl with the warm water. Stir, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

Place the powdered sugar, saffron water, and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to mix until smooth. The glaze should be thick but just liquid enough to slowly drip off a spoon. Add a teaspoon of water if it is too thick.

Drizzle the glaze over the cupcakes and top with chopped pistachios and rose petals.

Serve the cupcakes.

A little rosewater goes a long way because too much can overpower the flavor of your dessert. This recipe calls for just 2 tablespoons to flavor the batter. Unless you use rosewater often, it may not make sense to buy a whole bottle just to make these cupcakes. You could always leave it out, but the rosewater adds a lovely flavor we recommend keeping. Fortunately, you can easily make a small batch of rosewater at home if desired, or you can make a larger batch if you'd like to try it in more recipes. There are many easy ways to use rosewater in sweet and savory recipes as well as in drinks.

To make rosewater, start with one part dried edible rose petals (or two parts fresh organic petals) to five parts distilled water. Bring the mixture to a boil in a saucepan, and once it boils turn the heat down so the water simmers gently for 15-20 minutes. You'll see the petals lose their color as they flavor the water. Then remove the pan from the heat and let sit for an hour to infuse. Finally, strain out the rose petals and discard them. The rosewater will be ready to use. Store any leftover rosewater in a sealed glass jar and keep it in a dry place for 6 months. If you didn't use distilled water, refrigerate it for up to two weeks.

A few signature ingredients are often seen among the flavors of Persian baking. These are rosewater, saffron, cardamom, lemon, orange blossom water, almond, and nutmeg. Rosewater can have a strong flavor, putting some people off, but when baked in this cake it adds a subtle floral touch that's not overpowering. Rosewater can vary in strength, so if yours is on the stronger side, you can use a little less and make up the difference with plain water. If you don't like rosewater, don't just leave it out, because it's part of the required wet ingredients to keep the cake moist. You could substitute plain yogurt, orange blossom water, or a mixture of more lemon juice and plain water.

Almond flour is mixed with all-purpose flour to make the cake richer and denser. Almond flour can be expensive, so if you don't use it often you can grind your own almonds in a blender or food processor to make almond meal (if you keep the peels on) or almond flour (if you use blanched peeled almonds). We like the richer flavor and darker color of almond meal.

Saffron is considered by many to be one of the must-have ingredients for great Persian food. It's an unusual flavor, and saffron is notoriously expensive. If you choose not to use it, you can leave it out and flavor the glaze with rose water, orange blossom water, or lemon juice instead.