This wildly wonderful walnut rosewater cake is so packed full of flavour that it will bring tears of your joy to your loved one’s eyes! This tasty cake easy to make, although a little bit labour intensive. But it will be well worth the effort! Try it for tea or serve as a decadent dessert.
Adapted from an original recipe in Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh.
HOW TO MAKE A WALNUT ROSEWATER CAKE

INGREDIENTS
- 3 cardamom pods, bruised, seeds reserved, pods discarded
- 1 cup (150g) walnuts, plus extra chopped
walnuts to serve (* the original recipe uses pistachios, but I prefer walnuts so I ended using those) - 1 cup (100g) almond flour
- 170g rye flour (*originally, this is a semolina-based cake. But being wheat intolerant, I opted to use rye flour. It provided the perfect accompaniment to the nuttiness!)
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 300g unsalted butter, chopped, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbs lemon juice
- 2 tbs rosewater
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
ROSEWATER CREAM
- 200g Double cream plain yoghurt
- 200g creme fraiche
- 1 tbs icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tbs rosewater
SYRUP
- 100ml lemon juice
- 1/3 cup (80ml) rosewater
- 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
CRYSTALLISED ROSE PETALS (OPTIONAL)
- 1 eggwhite
- 10g (about 40) edible red or dark pink rose petals (from gourmet food shops)
- 25g caster sugar

METHOD
- First, preheat oven to 80°C. Grease a baking tray and line with baking paper. Grease a 23cm springform cake pan and line with baking paper
- For the crystallised rose petals, if using, whisk egg white until frothy. In 2 batches, use a small pastry brush to very lightly paint over both sides of each petal with egg white, then sprinkle with sugar. Shake off excess sugar and arrange petals on the prepared tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until petals are dry and crunchy, then set aside to cool.
- Increase the oven temperature to 180°C.
- To make the walnut rosewater cake, place cardamom seeds and walnuts in a food processor and whiz until walnuts are finely ground. Transfer walnut mixture to a bowl and add almond meal, rye flour, baking powder and 1/4 tsp fine salt. Stir to combine.
- Place butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until well combined (be careful not to overwork – you don’t want a lot of air in the mixture). With the motor running, slowly add egg, beating well. Fold through the wallnut mixture, then fold through lemon zest and juice, rosewater and vanilla until just combined. Spread batter into prepared pan and use a palette knife to smooth the surface. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean but a little oily.
- Meanwhile, for the rosewater cream, place all ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to medium peaks. Cover and chill until needed.
- Start with the syrup in the final 10 minutes of cake cooking. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, drizzle with hot syrup (it looks like a lot of syrup; the hot cake will absorb it). Then sprinkle with extra wallnuts and set cake aside in the pan to cool to room temperature.
- Finally, remove walnut rosewater cake from the pan and scatter with crystallised rose petals, if using, breaking some into pieces. Serve with rosewater cream for even more deliciousness.

This walnut rosewater cake is the cherry on top of a relaxing weekend outdoors or a romantic evening spent underneath flower fairy lights. Let us know if you enjoy this walnut and rosewater cake as much as we did!
Happy Baking this Valentine’s Day!
