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    Home » Desserts

    Oct 3, 2018 by Farwin.

    Sri Lankan Love Cake

     

    It's not that time of the year to post about love cakes. Not that I celebrate Valentines Day,anyways. But it was my birthday last month.I stepped into my thirties leaving my twenties behind. A decade filled with life changing experiences and so many lessons. Though,there was the slightest twinge of sadness,I was prepared to embrace this new chapter in life,with a piece of cake. Not just any cake,but the Love Cake.

    Exotic in it's taste as it's name,it's heady mixture of nuts and spices. Originated back in the 16th century when the Portuguese ruled our little island and the spice trade,it was adapted by the natives with their own twist to it. One of the ingredients that gives the Portuguese touch is the candied melon/white pumpkin called puhul dosi. The lankan version of the Portuguese squash preserve doce de chila. Cashew nuts and cardamom are locally grown while semolina and rosewater,may have been from the Muslim influence.

     

    See the layers of the cake in this picture? It's got a nice crunchy layer of nuts on top,semolina and the candied fruits make up the bottom layer all perfumed by the lovely scents of the rosewater and spices. It's impossible to stop eating when you take a bite,but be warned though,it's buttery moist and sweet. It goes well with chai,but I prefer mine with an unsweetened mint green tea.

    This is a special occasion treat served in weddings and birthdays,Christmas and New Year. In weddings the guests get to take home squares of this cake wrapped in lovely cellophane or gift boxes. As kids,we couldn't wait to come home,unwrap it and devour it voraciously. Sadly,I couldn't find puhul dosi here in dubai,so I used candied orange peels and candied pineapples.There wasn't much of a difference in the taste. It will taste delicious even without the candied fruits. The cake would stay up for a week in an air-tight box in room temperature.

    As for the birthday,I shared half of the cake with my neighbors. My kids had some and rest of it,was finished a week later by me and my hubby over a late night movie.A great end to a lovely cake !

    Before I wind up,a big Yay ! to me,for winning a Groupon voucher worth 200 aed by Eaternal Zest.Thanks Drina ! Can't wait to splurge on exclusive deals at groupon.com !

    Sri lankan Love Cake

    (adapted from the The Traveller's Lunchbox)

    Ingredients:
    3 large eggs
    1 ¼ cups sugar
    75 g unsalted butter,melted and cooled
    1 ½ tablespoon honey
    1 tablespoon rosewater
    zest of 1 small lemon
    ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
    ½ teaspoon ground cardomom
    1 cup raw cashews,chopped
    1 cup semolina,lightly roasted
    60 g candied squash,pumpkin,pineapple,lemon peel chopped

     

    Method:

    Line an 8"inch round cake pan with double parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 300 F/150 C degrees.
    In a large bowl,beat the eggs and sugar till light and thick. Add the melted butter,honey,rosewater,lemon zest,ground nutmeg and cardomom. Beat well. Stir in the cashews together with the semolina and the candided fruit.Turn into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minuted to one hour or until the top is golden and puffed.
    If thr cake starts to brown too quickly,cover it with a foil and bake. When done,let it cool completely in the pan before removing.
    Dust with powdered sugar if you like, and cut into small squares or diamonds to serve.
    « Sweet Potato Nests
    Moist Date Cake with Caramel Sauce »

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    Comments

    1. Julie says

      October 25, 2012 at 12:17 am

      yummy cake,loved the texture:)
      Join my ongoing EP events-Rosemary OR Sesame @ Now Serving

      Reply
    2. Indu says

      October 25, 2012 at 3:51 am

      Happy thirties!
      Love the love cake....Nutmeg and cardamom in a cake...Should be heaven

      indugetscooking.blogspot.com

      Reply
    3. Raji says

      October 25, 2012 at 7:54 pm

      Lovely cake Farwin...and beautiful pics..ur cake stand is so pretty. Congrats on winning the groupon voucher. Happy holidays 🙂

      Reply
    4. Love and other Spices says

      October 29, 2012 at 2:57 pm

      Thanks Indu. Oh yes ! it's heavenly !

      Reply
    5. Nasuha Kareem says

      November 10, 2012 at 10:10 am

      Hi Farwin... that was so good-looking. awesome photography!!! I love the one with sugar jar and the mini colander at the background. BTW, being a Sri Lanka i hope you will come up with more recipes from home cuisine. Can u plzzzzz show the recipe on how to make authentic Sri Lankan Mani pittu.. I am an ardent fan of it....txs.

      Reply
    6. HirW says

      April 18, 2013 at 5:50 am

      Hello, I made this for Sri lankan new year last week and it came out really well!!!!! Just like the photo, which a crunchy layer of cashew. It was so easy to make, not much ingredients but GREAT taste! I will definitely make this again and again. I also made a love cake according to Chef Peter Kuruvita's recipe, but I gotta say that was nowhere near your beautifully delicious love cake! Knowing that your recipes are fool proof, I'm gonna go ahead with make other recipes in your blog. I hope you continue to post more recipes. Good luck! and thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!

      Reply
    7. Love and other Spices says

      April 18, 2013 at 1:43 pm

      Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm glad the cake came out well.

      Reply
    8. ZatZ says

      July 02, 2013 at 1:02 pm

      Nice to see sri lankan food blogs 🙂

      i will be visiting your blog everyday 😛 hope you upload loads of ifthar items! please do come visit my blog too.

      http://pinkcloudsz.blogspot.com/

      Reply

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