Persian Love Bundt Cake

Cake

450 g Flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom

280 g unsalted butter softened

380 g granulated sugar

3 large eggs room temperature

225 g buttermilk room temperature

85 g vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon rose water

Zest of half a lemon

Syrup

110 g water

110 sugar

Juice of half a lemon

2 teaspoons rose water

Glaze

225 g icing sugar

Juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon of rose water

Water to thin out

Edible flowers, chopped pistachios, dried rose buds to decorate

Cake

Preheat oven to 175ºC and adjust rack to lower middle point

Thoroughly grease and flour a standard bundt tin or two nine inch cake pans (avoid oil sprays)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt, set aside

Combine buttermilk, lemon zest, oil, vanilla extract and rose water, set aside

Add butter and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with a paddle attachment, combine on medium high speed until fluffy and pale, about 5 minutes

Add eggs to butter mixture one at a time, combining thoroughly between each addition

Alternate in dry and wet ingredients (dry in three stages, wet in two, starting and ending on dry) scraping the bowl as needed until batter is well combined but not over-mixed

Pour batter into prepared pan and level the top, bake in preheated oven for approximately 45 to 50 minutes

If cake begins to over-brown before it is baked through, tent with aluminium foil and bake until a bamboo skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean with a few moist crumbs attached

Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack

Brush thoroughly with syrup while still warm, then let cool completely before glazing and decorating

Syrup

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan, stir until sugar is mostly dissolved

Place over medium high heat and bring to the boil, not stirring, until mixture is very slightly thickened (about a minute)

Take off heat and stir through rose water and lemon juice

Cool slightly and then brush over cake while still warm

Glaze

Sift icing sugar into a bowl and stir through lemon juice, rose water, and enough water to form a thick glaze (you should be able to form a figure of eight with the mixture before it is absorbed back into itself)

Glaze cake once cool, then decorate with edible flowers, chopped pistachios, and dried rose buds as desired

This recipe is sized for a classic 10 inch bundt pan with a capacity of about 12 cups, this recipe also works in two nine inch cake pans

Avoid using oil sprays as these increase the chance of the cake sticking, any cake release with flour should work. Allow the cake to cool but not become cold before you turn it out of the pan

The pan pictured is the Nordic Ware Jubilee loaf pan, to make the cake in this pan you will only need half of the recipe

Rose waters vary wildly in scent and intensity, be mindful of this and make sure to taste as you go (you can always add more if needed)

Make sure to use the freshest ground cardamom possible as it loses its aroma quickly, for best results you may want to grind your own from green cardamom pods