How to Make a Moist Persian Love Bundt Cake

This beautiful Persian Love Cake is a moist, aromatic Bundt cake infused with cardamom, cinnamon, rose water, lemon zest, and ground almonds—flavours traditionally associated with Persian baking. It’s topped with a delicate pink cream cheese glaze and finished with crushed pistachios and dried rose petals for a romantic, show-stopping look.
The secret to keeping this cake soft and tender lies in the blend of warm spices and almond meal. You can easily adapt it with alternative flours like spelt for a wholesome twist. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, Nowruz, or simply to show someone you care—no special occasion needed.
Bake a Persian Love Cake at home and say "I love you" with a Sue Maree P Bundt cake.

What’s the Story Behind the Persian Love Cake?

So the story goes… a woman baked this magical cake to make a Persian prince fall madly in love with her. Spices, rosewater, almonds—basically, an enchanted love potion in cake form.

But when I asked my Persian friend about it, she gave me a blank look and said, “Never heard of it.” Hmm… maybe the story’s a myth. Or maybe her baking didn’t quite do the trick, and the prince ran off with someone else who made better cookies. Who knows?

What I do know is—you’ll fall in love with this cake. One slice and you might even fall in love with your oven.

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted softened butter
• 200g castor sugar
• 250g SR flour (or 250g plain flour or spelt flour + 4 tsp baking powder)
• 4 eggs room temperature
• 75g ground almonds
• zest (for the batter) and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon (only for the glaze)
• 130g (1/2 cup) of Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tbsp rosewater syrup
• pinch of salt

Glaze

• 2 tbsp castor sugar
• juice 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp rose water

Pink Drizzle Icing

• 250g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• 180g cream cheese
• 3 tsp of raspberry juice or a few drops of pink colouring

To Decorate

• 2 tsp chopped pistachios
• 2 tsp dried rose petals

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160˚c fan-forced, 180˚C. Generously grease and flour a large 10/12 cup bundt ring tin (23cm/9 inch) or fluted pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar on high speed for 2 minutes till pale and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one by one, beating to mix after each addition. Sprinkle in some of the almond mixture with each egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Add in the yoghurt, and beat to combine.
4. Add the balance of the dry ingredients the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom powder into this mixture. Then add the lemon zest and rose water. Do not over-mix.
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
6. Bake for 40 minutes, at 160˚c
7. After 35 minutes of baking, start to prepare the syrup. Combine sugar, lemon juice and rosewater syrup in a small saucepan and heat till sugar dissolves and syrup thickens slightly.
8. Before removing the cake from the tin, poke holes in the top of the cake then brush or drizzle warm syrup over the cake and allow to cool the cake in pan for 10 minutes. Sit on a damp tea towel to help loosen the cake. Gently remove the cake to a wire rack and allow the cake to cool completely before icing.
9. To make the icing, add 2 tbsp lemon juice to the sifted icing sugar in a bowl. Using either a wire whisk or a spatula, mix together to form a smooth paste. Add cream cheese and pink colouring or raspberry juice (I use the defrosted juice from frozen raspberries).
10. Place the icing in the fridge to firm up slightly for 20-30minutes. Remove from the fridge and either drizzle with a large spoon or spoon mixture into an icing bag and add only to the top, the weight of the icing will slowly roll down the sides of the cake.
11. Sprinkle chopped pistachios and rose petals all over the top of the cake. Cut into slices and serve.
12. To store keep cake covered in a container on the kitchen bench for 2-3 days. Refrigerate if kept for a longer period.