Reader recipe: Gluten-free Persian love cake

Tam West

Emma Oakman was one of two runners-up in our special occasion desserts reader recipe competition. Emma said: "Adapted from a recipe by Gerard Yaxley of Qöm Restaurant, Australia (now closed), this is a real crowd-pleaser and quite light for the end of a meal. Plus it’s gluten-free."

Judges said: "This is a gluten-free cake that is full of interesting flavours. Nice enough for special occasions, simple enough for day-to-day."

Ingredients

180 g	Almond meal (Main)
110 g	Demerara sugar
110 g	Brown sugar
½ tsp	Salt, or less if you prefer
60 g	Unsalted butter, softened
1	Egg
125 g	Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve
½ tsp	Ground cinnamon
½ tsp	Ground nutmeg
½ tsp	Ground cardamom
2 Tbsp	Pistachios, shelled, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Butter and line an 18cm spring form tin with baking paper.
2. Mix together the almond meal, sugars and salt in a bowl to combine evenly. Add the butter and rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down gently to cover the base evenly.
4. To the remaining mixture, add the egg, yoghurt and spices, and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Pour this mixture over the prepared base, and sprinkle the chopped pistachios around the border.
5. Bake until golden brown and just set, approximately 30 minutes.
6. Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack, before gently unmoulding and transferring to a serving plate. Serve with extra greek yoghurt on the side.

See the winner and other runner up entries

• Raw mango and passionfruit summer celebration cake
• Nectarine, sweet riesling and white chocolate tiramisu

Have a look atall the competition entries