PERSIAN LOVE CAKE WITH ROSE, CARDAMOM & FIGS

There are thousands of versions of this cake with the roughly similar legend behind them that a young woman made it for the man she liked, who promptly fell in love with her on tasting it. I can make no guarantees as to the efficacy of this recipe for similar results, as the man was a prince and that was a fairytale, but nonetheless this is a lovely, baklava-scented cake to make for friends or loved ones.

SERVES 8

PREP 15 MINUTES COOK 25 MINUTES

115g soft light brown sugar 115g soft unsalted butter 2 free-range eggs

85g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

35g ground almonds

½ tsp ground cinnamon 4 cardamom pods, seeds only 2 drops of rosewater

ICING

250g mascarpone 25g icing sugar

1-2 drops of rosewater

DECORATION fresh edible or dried rose petals (optional) handful of pistachio slivers 2 fresh figs, quartered

★ Preheat the oven to 180C/

160C fan/gas 4.

★ Beat the sugar and butter together until soft, then whisk in the eggs. Fold in the flour, baking powder, ground almonds, spices and rosewater, then transfer the mixture to a lined shallow

26cm x 20cm roasting tin and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean.

★ Meanwhile, beat the mascarpone and icing sugar together with the rosewater (it can be overwhelming, so use very little or you risk making an icing that tastes like shower gel).

★ Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cold. Spread the icing all over the cake neatly with a hot palette knife, then scatter over the rose petals, pistachio slivers and figs. Serve immediately.