Sri Lankan Love Cake

I usually bake the Sri Lankan version of Christmas cake for Christmas. However, last year, I didn't get to make one and decided to bake my popular love cake instead. I wanted to write about it after a friend emailed me asking me for my recipe.

Love cake 

If you are not Sri Lankan, you may wonder about why love cake is special. Sometime ago, I came across a love cake in the local health food shop and out of curiosity bought one. The $6 piece of "love cake" baked in a tiny oval shaped mould looked pretty attractive but it was not anything like what we Lankans call love cake. Our version is a delicate and very sweet and rich concoction made out of roasted semolina, butter, finely chopped cashew nuts and flavoured with spices, lemon rind, honey and rose water.

There are several versions of Love Cake given in recipe  books. The Sri Lankan version of the Joy of Cooking, the Daily News Cookbook has two version and my mother used to make one of them. I have adapted this recipe but add my own flavours by adding a handful of finely chopped winter melon preserve (or puhul dosi) and use nutmeg and cinnamon as well as finely grated lemon rind. I have used the love cake recipes by Chamaine Solomons and Peter Kuruwita which are both delicious. I like the way Kuruwita bakes his in tiny friand moulds and was going to make mine in them but since I couldn't find my friand tin which is hidden away somewhere so I made two small cakes and will cut them into tiny squares.

Peter Kuruwita's love cake baked in friand moulds

Love cake is a typical example of the fusion of the diversity that is Sri Lanka. It is a Eurasian recipe made mostly by the Burgher community who are descendents of the Dutch and Portuguese. The use of semolina instead of flour could be from the Middle East while the use of honey and rose water definitely has links to the Arab world. The spices used, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg have roots in the island which was famous for spices even centuries ago. Possibly the original recipe used almonds but the local version uses cashews but many recipes use almond essence as well as rose essence possibly as a substitution for using ground almonds.

A Dutch cake which we call Dutch fingers has a very similar texture to our Love Cake and is sold in New Zealand and Australia but does not contain any spices and uses ground almonds.

Here is my modified recipe for making my version of Love Cake.

250 gms cashews chopped fine
250 gms roasted semolina
125 gms butter, softened
400 gms soft sugar
10 egg yolks and 6 egg whites
a pinch of salt
grated rind of 1 medium lemon or lime
50 ml honey
50 ml food quality rose water or half a tsp of rose essence
half tsp each of cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon, ground finely
100 gms of preserved melon - can be obtained from Sri Lankan groceries) - this is optional but adds a lovely texture and taste

Method:'

Line a 18 square cake pan.

Roast the semolina till lightly golden but don't allow it to brown. Cool and mix in with the butter and set aside..

Whisk the egg yolks with sugar till light in colour. Add the semolina and butter mixture and combine well. Stir in the cashew, chopped melon, rind and spices. Stir the honey and rose water. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt till light and fluffy but not stiff. Fold into the mixture lightly. Pour into prepared cake tin and bake in a preheated 160 deg C oven for 50 -60 mts. Do not let the top brown. Cool in tin for 10 mts and then on a wire rack. Store in airtight container for about 2 weeks.

Enjoy