persian love cake

We were on holidays at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast over the weekend  and I noticed at a couple of cafes they were serving ‘Persian Love Cake’.  I’d never heard of it before so I was intrigued.  We had some very special friends for afternoon tea yesterday at my parents-in-law’s avocado farm, so  it was a perfect opportunity to try it out.  It was a definite winner!  It’s quite sweet but the yoghurt balances it out.

The recipe I found on the Gourmet Traveller website – I made it  to the recipe, except I didn’t have fresh nutmeg so used a teaspoon of All Spice and I added a teaspoon of brown sugar and a sprinkle of all spice to the yoghurt to serve with it.

• 360 gm (3 cups) almond meal
• 220 gm (1 cup) raw sugar
• 220 gm (1 cup) brown sugar
• 120 gm  unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 250 gm Greek-style yoghurt, plus extra to serve
• 1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg (I used about a tsp All Spice)
• 45 gm (¼ cup) pistachios, coarsely chopped

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Combine almond meal, sugars, butter and 1 tsp salt in a bowl, then rub with fingertips until coarse crumbs form. Spoon half the mixture into a lightly buttered and baking paper-lined 26cm-diameter springform pan, gently pressing to evenly cover base.
2. Add egg, yoghurt and nutmeg to remaining crumble mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Pour over prepared base, smooth top, scatter pistachios around edge and bake until golden (30-35 minutes.) Cool completely in pan on a wire rack to room temperature, then serve with extra yoghurt (this is the yoghurt I added a little sugar and spice to).