Name: Persian Love Cupcakes
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 10 cupcakes
Ingredients: 120 g/ 1 stick Butter - room temperature; 120 g/ 5/8 cup Caster sugar; 2 Eggs (large, free range); 100 g/ 3/4 cup Plain (all purpose) flour; 40 g/ 1/3 cup Ground almonds; 1/2 tsp Baking powder; 1 tsp Rosewater ((see notes)); 1 tsp Orange blossom water; 2 tsp Lemon zest (grated finely); 1 Large pinch saffron threads; 1 tbsp Lemon juice; 1 tbsp Water; 2 tbsp Caster sugar; 160 g/ 1 1/4 cup Icing (confectioners) sugar; 1 tbsp Water; 1 tbsp Lemon juice

These pretty Persian Love Cupcakes will enchant you with their looks and flavour. Simply, yet effectively decorated, these little cakes are bursting with flavour. Rosewater, orange blossom, lemon & almond feature in the sponge which is topped with both a lemon saffron drizzle and lemon icing.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and whilst I’m not one to really celebrate it, I don’t want to be a party pooper for anybody that does. Each year I try to come up with something that has a romantic twist to it, but is still perfectly acceptable to serve any time the mood suits. So far I’ve covered Prosecco Truffle Pots, Orange Caramel Linzer Cookies and Chocolate Dipped Raspberry Marzipan. The latter two recipes can be turned into suitable Valentine’s treats by using heart shaped cutters. And all are perfectly acceptable to serve throughout the year – with or without hearts. Not bad for a sideline effort.

This year, I’ve gone a step further and made some Persian Love Cupcakes. These little cakes are about as romantic as a cupcake could be since they feature rosewater and edible rose petals. They also taste deliciously & delicately floral. But they are not specifically linked to Valentine’s Day.

THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS.

AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.

What are Persian Love Cupcakes?

Persian Love Cupcakes are my twist on the popular Persian Love Cake. Have you heard the story behind the love cake?

Rumour has it that a young lady, desperate to win the heart of a Persian Prince, baked a cake for him and filled it with magical flavours & love power. And so, the Persian Love Cake came to be. But the conclusion of the tale is murky – so far I’ve come across three different ending:

the prince ate the cake and fell madly in love with her
he rudely rebuffed her romantic gesture
the prince ate the cake but died shortly afterwards as he was allergic to saffron – drama

If I still believed in fairy tales, I wouldn’t know which ending to accept. But at least cake features in all versions.

Just like the story, there are many version of the love cake floating around. Most feature rosewater, lemon, edible rose petals and pistachios. But there are a handful of other goodies that may or may not make an appearance too:

saffron (though I’m sure purists would say this ingredient is essential)
cardamom
nutmeg
orange blossom water
almonds

I’ve included most of these ingredients in My Persian Love Cupcakes:

the sponge is flavoured with lemon zest, rosewater, orange blossom, cardamom and almonds
drizzled on top is a lemon and saffron glaze
lemon icing, scattered with edible rose petals & pistachio nuts completes the package

Just a word of warning – not all rosewaters are equal. Some are much stronger in flavour than other. I have quite a strong bottle on the go at the moment, but if you know yours is on the mild side, feel free to add a little more to my recipe.

All in all, these Persian Love Cupcakes manage to combine complex flavours and create a cake that is as striking to look at as it is to eat. I left a few without icing on to cater to the taste preferences of my husband. These were just as delicious (if slightly less sweet) as the iced cakes. My husband commented that un-iced, these cakes reminded him of Turkish delight. That can only be a good thing.

If you’re feeling extravagant, I suggest using a smidge of edible gold leaf to add a little extra sparkle and excitement to these Persian Love Cupcakes. They have royal heritage after all.