PERSIAN LOVE CAKE

This delicious spiced dessert is the perfect celebration cake, dinner-party dessert or scrumptious treat. The Middle Eastern spices give it a rich, complex flavour, which, combined with the gooey texture, creates an indulgent, satisfying cake. Serve this

Serves 4–6

180g/2 cups almond meal 250g/1¼ cups coconut sugar

½ tsp Himalayan pink salt

60g/¼ cup unsalted butter, softened 1 organic, free-range egg

125g/½ cup organic Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tspz ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsp shelled pistachios, roughly chopped 2 tbsp edible rose petals, to garnish (not essential, but beautiful)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter and line an 18cm cake tin with parchment paper. Mix the almond meal, sugar and salt in a bowl to combine evenly. Add the softened butter and rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down gently to cover the base evenly, as if you were making a cheesecake. Add the egg, yoghurt and spices to the remaining mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Pour this mixture over the prepared base and sprinkle the chopped pistachios around the edge of the cake. Bake until golden brown and just set, approximately 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack, before gently turning out and transferring to a serving plate. Sprinkle with rose petals and serve with an extra dollop of Greek yoghurt on the side.