Persian Love Cake

Ashia Ismail-Singer has brought warmth, spice and vibrancy to her second book, Saffron Swirls and Cardamom Dust. Since publishing her first book, My Indian Kitchen, in 2018, Ashia has been “itching to get another project in”. Her grandparents moved from India to Malawi in the late 1940s, and thanks to the Indian community there, recipes and cooking styles were preserved. Ashia was born and raised in Malawi, with a move to the UK in the 80s and then settled in New Zealand in 1997. With recipes being passed down through generations, she learnt to balance spices and blend East and West by incorporating these flavours into some of the sweets and desserts she makes regularly here in New Zealand.

The recipes in Saffron Swirls and Cardamom Dust incorporate both sweet and savoury spices into a stunning collection of soon to be family favourite treats. From comfort baking to more elaborate desserts, the hint of spice and balance of sweetness is guaranteed to impress. Included in these are showstoppers like the Chocolate, Pistachio and Rose Cake. There are refreshing summer treats like Chai Masala Ice Pops, and the Spiced Gems with Mandarin Drizzle are a must try for winter. Ashia gives you a wonderful insight into the use of spices in Indian cooking with a dedicated section detailing vast flavour profiles of so many spices to be discovered. Saffron Swirls and Cardamom Dust is organised into seasonal chapters, so you can take advantage of excess winter citrus, summer berries and autumn apples. Whatever is plentiful, you are sure to find something that will inspire. I personally love her use of rose petals and rose water throughout the book, so it was a no brainer that the first recipe I picked to make was the Pistachio, Raspberry and Rose Semifreddo. Its sweet floral notes took me straight to fond memories of summer dinner parties in Whangamatā, and I can’t wait to dive into more of Aisha’s recipes.

Saffron Swirls & Cardamom Dust by Ashia Ismail-Singer, photography by Christall Lowe, published by Bateman Books, RRP$49.99.

PERSIAN LOVE CAKE

This exotic, fragrant and pretty cake takes me back to my childhood with its combination of rose water and cardamom. Make it in a bundt cake tin to wow your guests.

SERVES 8–10

200g butter, softened 225g caster sugar 4 eggs zest and juice of 1 orange 2 teaspoons rose water 150g plain flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon ground cardamom 200g ground almonds 3 tablespoons sour cream

ICING

1 cup icing sugar 1 tablespoon orange juice ½ teaspoon rose water dried rose petals, orange zest and pistachios to decorate

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Grease a bundt tin, ensuring that all the indentations are well greased. Using a standing mixer or hand-held beater, cream the butter and sugar until really pale, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides between each addition. Add the orange zest and juice and the rose water and mix. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, ground almonds and sour cream and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 35–40 minutes or until the cake has risen and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. To make the icing, beat together the icing sugar and orange juice to make a thick, pourable icing. Mix in the rose water. Drizzle the icing over the cake, then decorate with rose petals, orange zest and pistachios.

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