I first tried this cake at a little cafe called "the pocket" on Moffat beach which serves some of the best coffee on the Sunshine Coast, mostly because I couldn't resist the name but also because I love pistachios - besides tasting delicious they are so pretty with their purply green colours, and the combination of flavours with the cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg is rich and exotic.
This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Gerard Yaxley of Qöm Restaurant, originally published in Gourmet Traveller (I googled it :)
Persian Love Cake
Ingredients
180 grams almond meal
110 grams demerara sugar
110 grams brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
60 grams butter, softened
1 egg
125 grams Greek yogurt, plus extra to serve
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
5 tablespoons shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and line an 18 cm springform tin with baking paper.
Mix the almond meal, sugars and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with your fingers to cover the base evenly.
To the remaining mixture, add the egg, yogurt and spices, and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Pour this mixture over the base, and sprinkle on the chopped pistachios.
Bake until golden brown and just set, approximately 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack. Serve with extra Greek yogurt on the side.
