This Persian Baklava Cake gives you all the flavor you love in small cake-like bars and without the fuss of phyllo: almonds, pistachios and rosewater. Find more olive oil cake recipes here.

Traditional baklava (pronounced baghlava in Farsi) is a sweet dessert made with layers of phyllo (or filo), filled with nuts and drenched in a sweet syrup. Depending on which country of origin, they come in a variety of different forms and flavors.
Greeks use chopped walnuts and drizzle their baklava with a honey syrup. Persian baklava uses chopped pistachios and almonds with a rosewater sweet syrup drizzled all over it. Both are incredibly delicious.
Today I am sharing with you one of my favorite Persian treats: Baklava Cake. It’s easier to make than traditional baklava, with it’s layers of fragile phyllo. This is an almond cake with the sweet syrup you love of baklava, the scent of rosewater and the crunch of pistachios.
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Recipe highlights
- Bite sized deliciousness: This recipe for Persian baklava cake falls somewhere between a dense cake and a bar made with almond meal and spiced with cardamom and rosewater.
- Aromatic syrup: While the cake is hot you drizzle the sweet rose water syrup all over it. The almond cake absorbs the syrup beautifully.
- Flavor: Honestly, I think this cake tastes better than the phyllo version of baklava, which can be too sweet. And a small bite goes a long way. It’s the perfect addition with a cup of hot tea.
- Beautiful garnishes: Persian desserts are also about presentation so this cake is garnished with almond slivers or slices, ground pistachios and some dried rose petals.
Reader’s Reviews
“I made this recipe for my wedding anniversary & it’s my husbands new favorite! I halved the recipe since it was just going to be for the 2 of us & it baked nicely in a 8×8 dish! I also couldn’t find rose water, so I subbed ½ a teaspoon of rose water extract & it came out beautifully! I rarely leave reviews on websites for recipes, but this one is THAT good! Thank you for sharing it! I also wish I made the full recipe because we loved it so much!” — Ana
Ingredients you need
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- Extra virgin olive oil: I bake with extra virgin olive oil all the time. It is the only oil that is extracted using only physical means, meaning it doesn’t need a chemical to extract it. If you’ve read my blog before, then you learned your lesson on how to bake with olive oil. Your baked goods are only as good as the ingredients you put into it. Choose a mild tasting olive oil for this cake recipe, not a peppery one.
- Ground cardamom: This is a key spice for this cake and offers a distinctive aroma and flavor.
- Almond meal: As this is not a delicate cake, you can use almond meal for this Persian baklava cake. You can also use the finely ground almond flour, too. I have repeatedly used both options and the baklava cake still turns out beautifully. You can also make your own almond meal for this recipe. Just use a food processor to pulverize and grind up 3 cups slivered almonds. I have done this as well and the again and it works very well for this baklava cake recipe.
- Eggs: You will separate the eggs in this recipe to mix them separately. Use large eggs.
- Lemon juice: This is added to the rosewater syrup and offers a touch of tang to the sweetness.
- Rosewater: You can use homemade rosewater or store bought.
- Nuts: I decorate the cake with almond slivers or slices and chopped pistachios.
- Dried rose petals: I also decorate the cake with crushed rose petals. If you dry your own rose petals, make sure they are organic. You can also use store bought.
- Pantry staples: Granulated sugar, all purpose flour and baking powder.
Step-by-step directions
- Whisk yolks. Separate yolks and whites from eggs. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until pale in color. Whisk in olive oil and cardamom.
- Whip egg whites. Clean egg beaters and whisk reserved egg whites until glossy. Add to egg yolk mixture and combine.
- Add almond meal. Mix almond meal into egg batter.
- Add flour. Gradually whisk in flour and baking powder.
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- Bake. Spray an 8″ x 8″ baking pan and a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pans. You do not want a thick cake so make sure batter is ½-inch to ¾-inch deep in pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted to center of cake comes out clean.
- Make the rose water syrup. Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to boil for 5 minutes. Remove syrup from heat and stir in rose water.
- Cut into diamonds. When cakes come out of the oven, cut into desired shapes. For diamonds, start from one corner of the pan and cut at a diagonal (45-degrees) down. Separate cuts by about 1-inch. Then cut a horizontal line across the cake. You can also cut 1-inch squares.
- Finish the cake. Pour the syrup over entire cake while it is still hot. Garnish with almond slivers, chopped pistachios and crushed rose petals. Let cake cool to room temperature and then serve.
Recipe tips and FAQs
Traditional baklava is served as diamond shaped bites of deliciousness. Once out of the oven, you can similarly cut the baklava cake into squares or diamonds. And don’t worry about the diamonds not being perfect, as you can see from my video!
The top of the baklava cake is garnished with almond slivers or slices, ground pistachios and some dried rose petals. The rose petals aren’t necessary, but they sure do make the cake pretty!
Once the cake is completely cooled, I like to remove the individual pieces of Persian baklava cake and place them on a serving platter for guests.
If you like this recipe, you should try my other amazing Persian (and Persian inspired!) desserts:
- Saffron ice cream (bastani)
- Persian rosettes (nan panjareh)
- Saffron raisin cookies
- White chocolate bark with roses and raisins
- Saffron rice pudding (shole zard)
- White wedding cake with roses
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. You can store it on the counter for a few days, as well, but because it is moist, make sure the kitchen is cool and not humid.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze the cake. Wrap in foil, parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months.
Almond flour is super finely grounded blanched almonds. It has a delicate flour consistency. Almond meal is grounded almonds, with or without the brown skin. It is not as finely grounded as almond powder. For example, you could chew on a small bit of almonds with almond meal.
Traditional baklava (pronounced baghlava in Farsi) is a sweet dessert made with layers of phyllo (or filo), filled with nuts and drenched in a sweet syrup. Greeks use chopped walnuts and drizzle their baklava with a honey syrup. Persian baklava uses chopped pistachios and almonds with a rosewater sweet syrup drizzled all over it. Both are incredibly delicious.
Persian Baklava Cake with Almonds and Rosewater
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 2 ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 ½ cup almond meal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup rose water
- ¼ cup almond slivers
- ¼ cup pistachios shelled and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed dried rose petals
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Spray an 8" x 8" baking pan and a 9" x 13" baking pan with cooking spray.
- Separate yolks and whites from eggs into two medium-sized bowls.
- In the bowl with the egg yolks add and whisk together 1 cup sugar until white in color.
- Whisk in olive oil and cardamom.
- Mix almond meal into egg batter.
- Clean egg beaters and whisk reserved egg whites until glossy.
- Add to egg yolk mixture and combine.
- Gradually whisk in flour and baking powder.
- Pour batter into prepared pans. You do not want a thick cake so make sure batter is ½-inch to ¾-inch deep in pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted to center of cake comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking make the rose water syrup. Combine 1 ½ cups sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to boil for 5 minutes.
- Remove syrup from heat and stir in rose water.
- When cakes come out of the oven, cut into desired shapes. For diamonds, start from one corner of the pan and cut at a diagonal (45-degrees) down. Separate cuts by about 1-inch. Then cut a horizontal line across the cake. You can also cut 1-inch squares.
- Pour the syrup over entire cake while it is still hot.
- Garnish cake with almond slivers, chopped pistachios and crushed rose petals.
- Let cake cool to room temperature and then serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
It came out moist and delicious. I made one mistake of putting 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar beaten into the egg yolks. If the sugar ingredient amount for the batter was listed separately than the syrup. That would have helped to follow. Anyhow, I added less sugar to the syrup. Next time I will read the instructions carefully.
Hi Tami- So when I first wrote this recipe, the program I used for the recipe card wouldn’t let me separate the ingredients in subgroups, so cake ingredients and syrup ingredients. But now I can do that and I have been going thru my recipes, one by one, and trying to do just what you requested. I have over 600 recipes so it is taking a little time to get it done. But next time you make it, it should be separated. I don’t know about you, but I hate reading recipes on the small phone screen. I seem to… Read more »
I made this recipe for my wedding anniversary & it’s my husbands new favorite! I halved the recipe since it was just going to be for the 2 of us & it baked nicely in a 8×8 dish! I also couldn’t find rose water, so I subbed 1/2 a teaspoon of rose water extract & it came out beautifully! I rarely leave reviews on websites for recipes, but this one is THAT good! Thank you for sharing it! I also wish I made the full recipe because we loved it so much!
Hi Ana-
So happy you loved this recipe. It really is something special – and so much easier to make than real baklava!
Happy holidays and thank you for your sweet words!
Laura
Looks delicious! Would this need to be refrigerated if made a day or two in advance? Or am I better off making the day I serve this?
Hi Kavita-
You do not need to refrigerate this in advance, but you do need to let the cake soak in the syrup and cool down. You can make it a day or two ahead if you want, but it is not necessary.
Laura
This is a gorgeous recipe. I haven’t tried rose water so I am super excited to find it.
I have never thought to make baklava, but it’s one of the few desserts I love.
Don’t worry. I sent in a request that they hold ’em off a week. I think it will all work out 😉 GREG
I’m always amazed at moms and how you manage your time and busy schedules. Often times I think better than I do. Your cake looks heavenly! My hubby loves baklava and I know he’d also love your cake. Thanks for sharing.
I really like baklava, but it’s one of those things I buy and never make. Partially because I perceive it as being a pain (all those phyllo layers!), but also because it’s awfully sweet. Your version looks much more approachable, and I love all the almond. Good stuff – thanks.
I love this! Looks delish & not difficult to make. What a great holiday treat!
I love baklava, how fun to turn it into a cake!
Baklava is one of my favorite treats! If I may, I’d like to invite you to submit your photos to the new YumGoggle, a photo sharing site with the philosophy that if you worked hard to cook it and photograph it, we should show it off! Hope to see you there soon! http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/
This baklava looks amazing! Good luck with all of the baking and thanks for giving a shout out to the auction! Kids, kids, kids…time for a vacation??? 😉
Yes! A day at Auntie Liz’s would be fun! : )
Happy to rent your sweet kids for a bit during the holidays – !