Persian Love Cake

While searching for rose water recipes, I stumbled upon recipes for Persian Love Cake. There seem to be many different people making the same recipe. The same strange recipe. It looked like a lot of people were using this recipe from Epicurious via Bon Appetit. I was confused by some of the directions in the recipe, so I took it to the best cake expert I know - my Mom.

She pointed out quite a few flaws in the recipe, re-worked the recipe and baked the cake for me.

Awesome!

The Epicurious recipe irritates me. It sounds like it was written by someone who tasted this cake and then decided to make up a recipe for it.

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This is NOT a copy and paste recipe from Epicurious/Bon Appetit. This is a totally NEW recipe.

Persian Love Cake

Candied Rose Petals:

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

petals from 1 rose

Cake:

2 1/4 cup cake flour

1 cup superfine sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp grated lemon or orange peel

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Frosting:

2 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided

pinch of saffron (I would skip this next time)

1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp rose water

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease 2 8 inch pans, line pan bottoms with parchment paper. In one bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Mix remaining wet ingredients in another bowl. Add one cup of the wet ingredient mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir for 1 1/2 mins. Add remaining wet ingredient mixture and blend together. Pour batter into the 2 prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean. About 20 mins.

Allow cakes to cool completely.

Frosting: If you are using the saffron - take half of the cream and heat in a small pan until it simmers. Add saffron, stir and let cool.

Candied Rose Petals: Whisk 2 egg whites in a small bowl. Separate the petals from one rose and dip them in the egg whites. Just wet the rose petals, so the sugar will stick to them. Don't leave lumps of whipped egg white, like we did, that was one of the mistakes in the original recipe.

The egg whites shouldn't be stiff - like they are in this picture.

Allow the petals to dry overnight.

For the frosting: Whip the remaining cream. Strain the saffron infused cream and add to the whipped cream. Continue to whip until thickened, then add sugar. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Cut the cakes in half, so you have 4 layers.

Frost cake.

Frost sides.

Decorate with rose petals and fresh roses.

This cake would make a beautiful wedding cake.
However, it's not a pure white cake, because of the saffron.

Skip the saffron.

It tastes weird.

Without the saffron it will be a pure white cake.

Rose Water Sugar Cookies

Rose Water Sugar Cookies

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3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 Tbs rose water

1/4 tsp cardamom

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup colored sugar, for coating

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-Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

- Beat together all ingredients, excluding flour.

-Stir in flour.

- Drop the dough by the tablespoonful into the colored sugar, rolling the balls to coat them. Place them on the prepared baking sheets.

- Bake the cookies for 10 mins. until they are just barely stating to brown, they'll look soft. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 mins. then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Rolling the dough in colored sugar.

Baked cookies.

These cookies are very yummy.

They combine my two favorite flavors: cardamom and rose water.

If you have never tried rose water - it is amazing!

It adds an addictive quality to these cookies, increasing the buttery flavor and adding a sweet aftertaste - that makes you want to eat more!

DB's Challenge - Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

I did not have very much luck with this recipe. Well, the recipe was fine. I just lost my ability to read or something and had to make the recipe twice. One recipe that was waaaay off and strange (although everyone at work ate it up and said it was sinful) and one recipe where I followed the recipe (whoa! what an idea!).

When I followed the recipe the bars turned out perfectly and were delicious.

The mistake bars were good too, but they were really messy to eat.

Let me explain about my mistake. Like I said, I didn't read the recipe. I skimmed the recipe and read something about pudding. So when I was at work, it was 2 days to the post deadline and a huge blizzard blew into town, shutting down all the roads, I panicked!
I needed to make the bars and I couldn't get to the store to buy a package of pudding mix.

What to do?

Go to my Mom and ask her.

How do you make pudding at home?

She whipped up a batch of vanilla pudding for me.

Fast forward to me making the bars.

The recipe called for 2 Tablespoons of dry pudding powder.
I put in 2 cups of pudding!

It wasn't even close to the recipe.

(insert me rolling eyes at myself)

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Alls well that ends well though.

I made the bars again....2 days past the deadline.

Sorry Daring Baker's!

And the bars are very yummy - rich,but tasty.

I ate one for breakfast.

Part of the challenge was to make our own graham crackers to use in the nanaimo bars crust.

Like I said before - biggest blizzard ever- and I couldn't get to the store to buy the gluten free ingredients.

True, I could have planned better and bought the ingredients ahead of time, but I was distracted with my planning for the Potato Dinner Party.

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So, I didn't have any whole wheat flour.

I ground up some oatmeal and made oatmeal flour.

Oatmeal flour.



The rest of the ingredients.
I decided to make chocolate graham crackers.

Graham cracker dough mixed up.

Graham crackers rolled out.

It is a very soft and tender dough.

Oh yeah, maybe that's because I used pastry flour and oatmeal flour.

Again - big storm and empty cupboards.

Graham crackers baking.

I cut the crackers after they came out of the oven.

And then I let them sit out to dry.

They broke apart (fell apart) very easily.

Nanaimo bar crust ready to mix up.

Now stop reading: 'Cause I'm about to show you my mistake recipe.

This is all the lovely pudding my Mom made for me with lots of powdered sugar.

Pudding filling poured on top of the crust.

Lots of layers.

Chocolate on top.

And this is what it should look like!

Chocolate Bird's Nests

Chocolate Bird's Nests

1 can shoestring potatoes

14 oz. chocolate

(I used Wilton's Candy Melts - 7 oz mint and 7 oz. dark chocolate)

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Melt chocolate in the microwave.

Combine with shoestring potatoes.

Press into muffin cups and refrigerate overnight.

They can be made ahead - just keep them in the fridge until you serve them.

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To serve: Fill with mint ice cream and decorate with Chocolate Snowflakes

Chocolate Snowflakes or Russian Lace

This is a very old recipe.

As old as chocolate and snow.

There are 2 ingredients: fresh snow and chocolate.

It's perfect for snowy days when everyone is bored, because it's edible art.

Everyone likes to eat art!

I live in Minnesota where winter is at least 9 months long.

Winter always includes tons of snow.

However, we don't always get beautiful fluffy snow. You want dry, fluffy snow for this recipe.

Be a snow connoisseur! Hold out for the good stuff.

Anyway.

Melt some chocolate in the microwave (or over a candle/woodstove/something hot).

Put the chocolate into a plastic ziploc bag.

Snip one corner - to make a mini pastry bag.

Doodle in the snow. Make a snowflake shape or a word or a heart.

I did one layer of milk chocolate (chips) and one layer of white chocolate.

I liked the mini ones the best.




The chocolate will freeze very quickly.

I found this recipe when I was snowed in for a week.

We had a drift over the front of our house that covered the entire first story.

The power went on and off, but we had a woodstove and candles to keep us warm.

It was a lot of fun!

We built a doll house and ate Russian Lace.

Once the chocolate is firm (a couple minutes) pick up the snowflakes and take them inside.

Eat them right away or freeze them.

They really dress up a cup of cocoa.

They would also look nice on a cake.

They prevent cabin fever!

Every snowflake falling outside is unique and every chocolate snowflake is unique too.