Here's a dessert that's guaranteed to impress! This Persian rosewater pistachio cake with cardamom is made with fresh pistachios, and is topped with a divine rosewater buttercream. It's beautifully soft, buttery, fluffy, and gently spiced with cardamom for that extra Middle Eastern flavour and elegance. Trust me, you'll fall in love with this cake!

If you've been following along my blog for a while, you'll know that my background is Persian. And although this Persian rosewater pistachio cake isn't exactly a traditional or classic Persian cake, the flavours and aromas take me right back to my mum's kitchen!

Pistachio and cardamom are very popular Persian ingredients. But the rosewater in particular is very Persian - we love the stuff! In fact, it originated in ancient Persia, where it was used in cooking, medicine, and various ceremonies. Today, Iran is the main producer of this gorgeous ingredient!

Rosewater is traditionally created by steam-distilling fresh rose petals. This results in a delicate, fragrant liquid. Truth be told, I sometimes dab it on my skin as perfume. That's how fragrant it is!

If you've never cooked with rosewater, then try this divine cake and brace yourself for all the praise you'll get from loved ones asking "what's that beautiful flavour?!"

Ingredients in this Persian Rosewater Pistachio Cake

For the Cake

Rosewater - of course. Here is the one I buy (available from Coles). There are other brands, but my entire life I have seen this bottle in my mum's kitchen, and she tells me it's the best quality rosewater out there. And I know better than to question her infinite wisdom!

Fresh pistachios - this is what we grind up and use as part of the 'flour' of the cake. You can shell them yourself, or buy pistachio kernels on their own.

Cardamom - for that gentle, warming spice throughout the cake.

Self-raising flour - the cake is quite heavy with butter, eggs, and the pistachio flour. So, we need extra leavening action otherwise the cake will end up flat and dense!

Unsalted butter - for that beautifully buttery, rich flavour! Just make sure it's softened.

Eggs - to bind everything together and provide richness and a tender crumb. Make sure they are room temperature!

Caster sugar - but not too much. I am not a fan of overly sweet desserts, and this is no exception!

Baking powder - to help the cake rise!

Full-fat milk - for moisture, flavour, and richness. Ever so slightly warmed up (or room temperature) for this recipe.

Cinnamon - just a hint, for some extra background warmth.

Vanilla paste - not extract, not essence. Paste! Here's the one I buy (Aldi also sells a good vanilla paste!) You can also substitute with a vanilla pod if you prefer.

Almond extract - for a sweet, nutty flavour.

Salt - there's hardly a dessert I make without a smidge of salt to enhance all the other flavours!

For the Rosewater Buttercream

Rosewater - to help loosen the buttercream and give it that beautiful perfume of rose!

Unsalted butter - make sure it's softened!

Icing sugar/confectioner's sugar - this is what helps thicken the frosting. Typically a buttercream has a ratio of 2:1 butter to sugar, but I find that sickly sweet. So my ratio is 1:1, which means the buttercream is not as thick, but the sweetness is not overpowering!

Almond extract - for that hint of nutty sweetness.

Salt - to enhance all the other flavours in the buttercream!

How to Make this Persian Rosewater Pistachio Cake

First, blitz the pistachios in a food processor until they're small, but not powdered. A few pulses will do!

Place the crushed pistachios in a large bowl with all the dry ingredients, and mix.

Then, use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer and cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. See below for the texture and colour to look for! You can use a hand-mixer instead for this step.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.

Then slowly add them to the butter and sugar mixture. Adding them slowly prevents the mixture from curdling! Beating them first also prevents this.

Sometimes adding a whole egg at a time 'overwhelms' the creamed butter and sugar with too much liquid, and it splits. It also splits if the eggs are cold, and the fat in the butter seizes up. You'll know this happens when the mixture looks like scrambled eggs. Don't ask how I know :)

If this does happen, just keep going! The cake may end up slightly more dense, and less fluffy, but still delicious!

Once all the eggs are incorporated, mix half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture. This helps stabilise the mixture.

Then add the rest of the liquids, making sure the milk is not fridge-cold. If it is, there's a chance the mixture might curdle. I just pop the milk in the microwave for around 10 seconds to prevent this. Then mix everything together.

Finally add in the other half of the dry ingredients, and mix. You should have a thick, creamy batter at this stage.

Pour the batter into a cake tin, and bake for 30 minutes. Let it cool completely before spreading on the rosewater buttercream.

For the buttercream, use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer and cream butter until it begins to become fluffy.

Then add your icing sugar one spoonful at a time while the mixer is running. This is mainly because icing sugar will go everywhere if you add the whole amount at once!

Finally, mix through the rosewater and the almond extract. You should have a smooth, luxurious buttercream. Now you're ready to start frosting!

Spread an even layer of the buttercream over your cake. Garnish with crushed pistachios and dried rose petals if you want to be extra fancy! And there you have it, an absolutely gorgeous Persian rosewater pistachio cake. Imagine this hitting the table at a dinner party, gathering, or at the Christmas table!!!

How I Enjoy this Cake

Because of the flecks of green pistachio and red dried rose petals against white buttercream, this cake is perfect for Christmas dessert! Best of all, you can make it beforehand to avoid Christmas-day madness in the kitchen! But it really is lovely for any holiday occasion, event, or gathering where you want to impress your guests!

I think the best way to have this Persian rosewater pistachio cake than with a hot cup of Turkish coffee. I pop a few cardamom pods to infuse in my Turkish coffee (yes, cardamom and coffee are incredible together)! This just gives you that final hit of cardamom that's already in the cake. The sweetness and delicate flavours of the cake, followed by bitterness of the black coffee, is, in my husband's words when he tried this recipe... 'the perfect combo'. I couldn't agree more!

I truly hope you enjoy this recipe! If you tried it and loved it, I would be so grateful if you left a 5-star review and a comment to let me know how it went! xxx