Recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
Adapted by Yotam Ottolenghi
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(459)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Making this cake, which is adapted from "Sweet," by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, is a labor of love, but that’s only appropriate, for a cake adorned with rose petals. If you want to save time, however, you can do without the petals or use store-bought dried rose petals — the cake and cream are both special enough for those you feed to know you love them. If you are going all out with the roses, red or pink petals are a matter of preference; the red petals will turn a deep purple once candied. The cake keeps well for up to five days, but the petals should be sprinkled over just before serving. And don't confuse rose water and rose essence: the difference is huge. You want to use rose water here, and in brazen amounts, but it’s what makes the cake both distinct and delicious. —Yotam Ottolenghi
Featured in: Yotam Ottolenghi on Creating Recipes and His Cookbook ‘Sweet’
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Ingredients
Yield:10 to 12 servings
- 1large egg white
- About 40 medium pesticide-free red or pink rose petals (from about 2 roses)
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1cup/150 grams shelled pistachios, plus 2 tablespoons, finely chopped, for serving
- ½teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1cup/100 grams almond meal
- ¾cup plus 3 tablespoons/170 grams fine semolina flour
- 1¼teaspoons baking powder
- ¼teaspoon salt
- 1¼cups plus 1 tablespoon/300 grams unsalted butter (2½ sticks plus 1 tablespoon), at room temperature and cubed, plus extra for greasing the pan
- 1⅔cups/330 grams granulated sugar
- 4large eggs, lightly beaten
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon), plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2tablespoons rose water (not rose essence)
- ½teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾cup/190 grams plain Greek yogurt
- ¾cup/200 grams crème fraîche
- 1tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
- 1tablespoon rose water
- ½cup/120 milliliters lemon juice
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters rose water
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
For the Candied Rose Petals (optional)
For the Cake
For the Rose Cream
For the Rose Syrup
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
617 calories; 36 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 41 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 134 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit/100 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease a 9-inch/23-centimeter round springform pan and line with parchment paper.
Step
2
Make the candied rose petals, if desired: Whisk egg white by hand until frothy. Then, using a small pastry brush or paintbrush, very lightly paint both sides of each petal with egg white; do this in a few small batches, brushing and then sprinkling the sugar lightly over both sides of each petal. Shake off excess sugar and lay petals on the lined baking sheet. Place in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until dry and crunchy, then set aside to cool.
Step
3
Make the cake: Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius.
Step
4
Combine pistachios and cardamom in a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground, then transfer to a bowl. Add almond meal, semolina, baking powder and salt. Mix together and set aside.
Step
5
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fully combined, but take care not to overwork it; you don’t want to incorporate a lot of air into the mixture. With the machine still running, slowly add eggs, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times and making sure that each batch is fully incorporated before adding the next. The mixture will curdle once the eggs are added, but don’t worry; this will not affect the end result.
Step
6
Remove the bowl from the machine and add the dry ingredients, folding them in by hand and, again, taking care not to overmix. Next fold in lemon zest, lemon juice, rose water and vanilla extract and scrape the batter into the pan. Level with an offset spatula and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean but oily.
Step
7
While the cake is in the oven, make the rose cream: Place all the ingredients for the cream in a bowl and whisk to beat everything together for about 2 minutes, until thick. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Step
8
Make the rose syrup: About 10 minutes before the cake comes out of the oven (you want the syrup to be warm when the cake is ready), place all the ingredients for the syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring so that the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat. Don’t worry that the consistency is thinner than you might expect; this is how it should be.
Step
9
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, drizzle all of the syrup over the top. It is a lot of syrup, but don’t lose your nerve — the cake can take it! Sprinkle with finely chopped pistachios and set the cake aside in its pan to come to room temperature. Remove from pan and scatter rose petals over the cake. Serve immediately, with a generous spoonful of rose cream alongside. (The cake keeps well for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The rose petals should be sprinkled over just before serving.)
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out of 5
459
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Emily
Think you may be in the wrong place if you dislike rose.
Sasha
I wonder if the people who complain about a soap taste used rose essence instead of rose water. The recipe calls out for rose water, not essence. The problem might be that Nielson-Massey calls their rose essence rose water. Here are a few tips for finding the right rose water: 1. go to a store that sells Middle Eastern ingredients; 2. the ingredient list should only say rose water (no alcohol); 3. look for a ~10oz bottle, not a small one used for extracts; 4. it's ~$3 for a 10oz bottle.
l
Why are the lemon zest, lemon juice, rose water and vanilla extract added after the dry ingredients are incorporated into the butter, sugar and egg mixture? I am used to these type of ingredients being added to the butter, sugar and egg mixture before dry ingredients are incorporated.
Pups
Way, way too much sugar in the cake. One cup will do.
Natasha
This is one of the tastiest desserts I’ve ever eaten. Moist and sweet, but not cloyingly so as others on this string have described. The sauce cuts the richness.I’m middle eastern and used middle eastern rose water which is critical—lesser rose waters are heavy in their taste and scent.Quick and easy to make. It’s an absolute gem of a dessert.Highly recommend this recipe.
Phill
Sorry, but I hate rosewater, any suggestions for what to use instead? I was thinking of an orange flavored syrup.
Sasha
What Nielson-Massey sells as rose water is really rose essence. I have a small bottle of it and I have a bottle of real rose water and there's a big difference between the two. The essence has alcohol in it; the bottle of rose water just has rose water. The essence is about $9; a 10 oz bottle of rose water is less than $3. Go to a store that sells Middle Eastern ingredients and you'll find the rose water needed for this cake.
Raisa
Just wanted to say - this is fancy namoura. Namoura is a levantine semolina cake, made with aerated yogurt instead of eggs but is the same basic finished product as this. Served at iftar during Ramadan.
Helen Anthony
The cake is exotic, unusual and utterly addictive. Serves 12 easily.Reduced the amount of sugar by half when I made the syrup but kept the amounts for lemon and rosewater the same. The syrup was very lemony and complimented the cake beautifully.
Carole
I love the exotic and fragrant flavors of cardamom, pistachio and rose and I LOVE Ottolenghi, but this cake was a disappointment for me. It is massively heavy and massively sweet. It is a stunningly beautiful cake, but I won't make it again as it too heavy and sweet for me. The yoghurt sauce helped cut the heaviness a bit, but it is not for me.
Kay
This tasted and looked great. It helps if you think of this not as a "cake" in the usual sense but as a Middle Eastern syrupy desert like namoura or revani. Special ingredients (rose water, semolina flour, unsalted pistachios) can be found at a Middle Eastern grocery, either in person or online. Problems: The rose petals stuck the parchment, so next time I will apply a film of cooking oil spray to prevent that. Also, my cake sunk a bit, not horribly, but harder to apply syrup evenly.
Susan
In the first sentence - 9" round springform pan, greasedand lined with parchment paper
Sasha
Are you sure you used rose water and not rose essence? Nielson-Massey sells a small bottle that they call rose water but it's an essence and it has a strong alcohol smell. Rose water doesn't have that smell and the only ingredient is rose water. A 10 oz bottle of rose water costs less than $3; a 2 oz bottle of rose essence costs about $9, if I remember right.
Ellen Tabor
I just baked this cake (it's cooling in the syrup right now) and there is pool of oil under the pan. Fortunately, I baked it on a sheet pan so there's no mess in the oven, but it appears my springform leaked or didn't seal properly. I hope the cake doesn't turn out dry as a result. Did this happen to anyone else?
Ellen Tabor
Follow up: AMAZING CAKE. Loved the cake which was moist and tender and rosy and cardamomy (I increased the cardamom to 1 tsp based on others' recs). Whatever leaked out was irrelevant to the final delicious result. I disliked the cream very much and won't make it again. It was liquidy and unpleasant. Maybe next time I'll make whipped cream with a bit of sugar and rose water.
Amanda
I was worried this cake was going to be way to sugary because of the amount of sugar in it. I’m not a fan of sugary desserts. But I stuck to the recipe and to my surprise the cake wasn’t to sweet. The syrup you make with the lemon rose is so acidic you need the sugar in the cake. If you omit sugar out of the cake you better experiment with less lemon in the syrup. This cake was sophisticated & delightful. I loved how the lemon brightens and harmonizes with the rose.
M
Wow. A perfect cake. Cut the sugar in the cake to 1 cup / 190g — perfect level of sweetness for us.
FMcD
I made this exactly as written and it was amazing!! I've also eaten the real thing several times from Ottolenghi's bakery in Notting Hill. Unlike others have suggested, I wouldn't change any of the quantities. It turned out perfectly!
Jim
Does anyone have experience substituting white granulated sugar for another, more rich sugar such as brown, Demerara, or muscvado?
Dave
This is an absolutely fantastic dessert. It looks, tastes and smells absolutely lovely. I made this for my neighbors when they had their Eid brunch. My wife, who normally hates floral flavors, loved it and my neighbors said it made them think of home. While I used dried rose petals and it tasted great, I think taking the time to candy the rose petals would be worth the extra effort.
Karen
1 teas ground cardamom 280g sugar for cake
Ari
I'm wondering if this cake can be made kosher for Passover; I figure sub out matzo meal for the semolina flour, and separate the eggs out to beat the whites into peaks instead of the baking powder? That sounds like it could work, yes?
Ellen Tabor
You'll have a problem with the baking powder (which isn't KfP, although there is KfP baking powder available. That's largely bicarb, aka baking soda). Also, consider separating the eggs and beating the whites and folding them in for leavening. It won't be the same but it might be very good. I would also recommend using matzo cake meal and not matzo meal, which is really heavy. Cake meal is very finely ground matzo meal. Just 80 shopping days till Pesach 5784, or something like that!
Karen
Have made this 4 times in the last 2 months for birthdays. Such a delicious cake, I reduced the sugar to 600 g in the cake and about half in the syrup and it was still divine. Ground almonds and sugar (separately) in Vitamix because we can’t get almond meal or caster sugar in our parts. Highly recommended this cake.
Jana
Taste was good but turned out a bit soggy in the middle. Not sure if I undercooked it.
Munch
I am not a baker, so I will certainly refrain from changing quantities. I was afraid it would be too buttery and too sugary after reading the previous notes.All I can say is Ottolenghi struck again! This is a a Most delicate well balanced fabulous cake! It is pastry, so yes, there is sugar and butter in it. So a little bit goes along way, but, the texture, color and complexity of taste is amazing!! I certainly will make this again!
Annette Hester
I loved the cake and would like to tweak it a bit to make it lighter. I noticed in the list of ingredients that 1 cup is translated into 150 gr. for pistachios and 100 gr. for almond meal. Would adding just 100 gr. of pistachios do the trick? Also, would beating the egg whites and adding them at the end lighten it up?
cramberry
Hail Mr. Ottolenghi! I fell in love with this cake or versions of it about 10 years ago, as it's quite popular in many London coffee shops. I made Mr. Ottolenghi's version exactly as stated in his recipe once before, but I found it was a tad too buttery for my taste. The oils from the nuts I think contributed, but it still tasted amazing. I made it a second time yesterday, I cut down the butter to about 200g, I took the advice of others here and cut sugar to 1c, I used cupcake tin, baked for 25
Amanda
Everyone has loved this cake. However, the syrup was overwhelmingly lemony as written--admittedly I only had bottled juice. I had to remake it with a quarter of the lemon juice to not overpower the rose. I also reduced the sugar in the cake to 300 g and added more sugar to the cream. Couldn't find pesticide-free rose petals so garnished with pomegranate seeds.
Evelyn
The cake was a huge hit! My only downfall was the syrup that was supposed to be put on the cake right after it came out of the oven. It seemed like a good idea at first, but it made the cake impossible to take out of the pan. I had to redo the entire thing :(
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