Carrot, pistachio & coconut cake Persians like to have fruit for dessert, with lots of tea and possibly a few bites of baklava or rose water and syrupsoaked fritters. We don’t have cakes or puddings, but we do adore nuts. So this cake pays homage to Iran’s love of nuts and makes a great (gluten-free) dessert after a Persian feast. Don’t forget to serve it with tea! Black tea, no milk, of course. EASY GLUTEN FREE
1 Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Line the base and sides of a 24cm springform cake tin with baking parchment. 2 In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together. Add the ground almonds, coconut and cinnamon, and stir before adding the butter. Mix thoroughly, add the grated carrots and pistachios, then mix again until all ingredients are evenly combined. Pour the mixture into your cake tin and bake for 1 hr, checking at 40 mins to ensure it’s cooking evenly. 3 Remove from the oven and allow
to cool for at least 4 hrs (or overnight), as the cake will be more moist. I keep the cake on a plate covered with cling film and it lasts all week. 4 Dust with a little icing sugar, then scatter with rose petals and pistachios, if you like. Just before serving, tip the cream, icing sugar and rose water into a large mixing bowl and whisk to soft peaks. Serve a dollop alongside each slice of cake. PER SERVING 457 kcals • protein 9g • carbs 26g • fat 35g • sat fat 15g • fibre 4g • sugar 25g • salt 0.1g
SERVES 8-10 PREP 25 mins, plus 4 hrs cooling COOK 1 hr
3 large eggs 200g/7oz golden caster sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 200g/7oz ground almonds 100g/4oz desiccated coconut 2 tsp ground cinnamon 140g/5oz unsalted butter, melted 2 large carrots, coarsely grated 100g/4oz pistachios, roughly chopped or pulsed in a mini processor icing sugar, for dusting dried rose petals and ground pistachios (optional) TO SERVE 300ml/1/2 pt double cream 2 tbsp icing sugar a few drops of rose water
62 BBC Good Food Middle East June 2016
Leftovers will keep for up to a week – if they last that long!