October 10, 2010

Yazdi Cupcakes (Cake Yazdi)


This is a no frosting, mildly sweet cupcake with rosewater aroma, cardamom flavor and chopped pistachios sprinkled on top. کیک یزدی Cake Yazdi takes its name after the city of Yazd, the capital of Yazd province in central Iran. This delicious cupcake is truly a delightful dessert that can be enjoyed during any time of the day. These cupcakes can be packed for your kid's lunch, family picnics or taken on a road trip or on a plane. That's how I remember having my last Yazdi cake from back home -- on the plane en route to New York many years ago. The memory is still fresh in my mind. One of our relatives handed me a brown bag filled with freshly baked yazdi cakes amidst the tears and goodbyes as I was about to board the plane early morning at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport. Sometimes, a kind gesture leaves you with an everlasting sweet memory.



This recipe is adapted from M.R. Ghanoonparvar's "Colucheh Yazdi" recipe in his Persian Cuisine cookbook.

Cake Yazdi -Yazdi Cupcakes 

Ingredients:
Makes 20-22 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup strained yogurt, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 tablespoons rosewater
2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios

Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
  2. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, beating each egg for a minute before adding the next one. Add rosewater, mix well.
  4. Beat in the yogurt one scoop at a time.
  5. Sift all the dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl combine, flour, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cardamom powder. Mix well
  6. Line two cupcake trays with cupcake liners and spoon the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full.
  7. Garnish with chopped pistachios.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until light golden brown or when the inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool.
Serve with freshly brewed hot tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

52 comments:

  1. Beautiful architectural details!

    Your cupcakes win my heart because of that cardamoms and rosewater. Two my favorite ingredients.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My favourite! Thank you so much! Interesting twist with the rice flour, I'll test that out tonight :)

    Have a great day,
    Azarakhsh

    ReplyDelete
  3. beautiful photos, Azita Joon. hope youre well. love this recipe, esp since it has cardamom in it. x shayma

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,

    the cupcakes look great! I've never seen rice flour in cupcakes though... what does it do?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous, a small amount of rice flour improves the taste and texture of these cupcakes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. rosewater aroma, cardamom flavor and chopped pistachios - YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a sweet story, Azita. Lovely cupcake photos, too. I've never had these; they look great.

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow thats got some unique flavours, looks lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  9. love these I need to get me some rose water and try the recipe out

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful. My mother used rosewater a lot in her cooking, Ihave yet to try.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Azita, great photos...and the cakes look so tasty, cardamon and rose water...so fragrant as well :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just discovered your blog. I do sometimes try to cook Iranian food, even if I have nothing to do with Iran.
    Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
    Now I know where I can go for advice:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. These cakes have all my favourite flavours! and I like the lightness given by the rice flour! Will try them soon!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh yum...we made these this morning and I'm surprised there's any left! Thanks Azita, this recipe will definitely be added to our sweets folder.

    ReplyDelete
  15. To Azita and Anonymous

    Re: Rice Flour

    I baked these two nights ago in two batches. One with and one without rice flour. The rice flour added a lot of spongy, airy lightness. My friends emptied that platter within 2 minutes.

    The one without rice flour was more like a pound cake. While delicious, the texture was visibly different.

    Thanks so much Azita! ( I should've listened to my Mother about the magic of rice flour in our cuisine.. hehe)

    Azarakhsh

    ReplyDelete
  16. AZ, thank you so much for the experiment and the great feedback my friend!:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Azita jan, it's truly a pleasure and keeps the connection to cultural and familial roots :)

    Sincerely, many thanks to you. Looking forward to more recipes, and sharing some in the future.

    Azarakhsh

    ReplyDelete
  18. The cakes sounds just delicious, and the photos are simply beautiful, Have not seen any architectural details like it.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Azita,

    I used your recipe to make some cupcake for my Birthday party at work, It was great and everybody enjoyed of the taste and ...
    so I want to say thanks for your nice blog!

    Cheers,
    Mahdi/Montreal

    ReplyDelete
  20. Happy Birthday, dear Mahdi! Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I had some friends from Iran who shared a recipie for a cake more than 20 years ago. i have lost the recipie and contact with my beautiful freinds. I loved that three layer cake that I used to make with a filling inside that was made of flour and butter and sugar I think and then once all the three layers would be stacked I would put the creamy topping on top and sprinkle bread crumbs. Has anyone heard of cake like this an if yes how would I be able to get a recipie gain.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous, I don't recall any Iranian three layer cake recipe with sprinkled bread crumbs on top.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love your blog and I can't wait to make these for my Yazdi hubby :-) Thanks for sharing and creating an amazing blog that everyone else can benefit from!!! I've been waiting for something like this for ages. Thank you. You are so talented.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I made these last night they turned out perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Azita thank you for this recipe! what is called in farsi though? like is it just "cakeh yazdi" or is there a specific farsi word for cake/cupcake that's used?
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's just called cake yazdi. The word cake has become part of our language.

      Delete
  26. Made this recipe last night. OMG, they taste great. very fluffy, moist and great aroma. Loved that there's no icing on them so could enjoy the flavors of the cake itself.
    Thanks for the recipe Azita.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I tried this recipe and it was amazing. I made a few changes, i,e, put two teaspoon cardamon powder instead of 1/4 teaspoon and I did not use rice flour. It came out so yummy!! Thank you for such a great treat.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you so much for this recipe! My husband grew up eating this kind of cupcake in Iran and loves them. I've never had a real one, but as far as cupcakes go they're my new favorite.

    For those of you who haven't tried the recipe, do. These cupcakes are simple to make, incredibly tender and perfectly sweet.

    I've tried both of the other cake yazdi recipes on the internet--one was tasty but really dense and the other had too much egg and not enough sugar (this recipe has more sugar and butter--it's just right).

    The other recipes also had annoying steps like whipping egg-whites or mixing the egg and sugar over hot water (a double boiler thing).

    If you make one batch of cake yazdi, make this one--and if you do, you'll make it again, guaranteed.

    ReplyDelete
  29. They look great :) I love your blog! Am I able to bake this recipe as a cake rather than cupcakes? If so, should I change how long it's baked in the over for?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have never tried baking this recipe as a cake but most likely you will need to increase the baking time by at least 15-20 minutes. Thank you!

      Delete
  30. Every time I make yazdi cupcakes, they come out dry and not that moist! Does anyone know why or what I could do to make them moist? Thanks in advance

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may need to turn down the heat to 325 F and bake the cupcakes in a pre-heated oven. Don't over bake them.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, I'll try that

      Delete
  31. My dad is from Yazd, and I always loved the original cake yazdi. This recipe unfortunately didn't have the same taste, but in general it was a good recipe. The cupcakes were so tender and good tasting.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I made one batch of these last week and they were a huge hit with my colleagues (and my husband and me!) even without rosewater (kind of difficult to find here in Mexico City). This weekend I found rose essence and just took the latest batch out of the oven. I'll share them with my high school students tomorrow. They've been reading the book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi so I've planned a small picnic of Yazdi cupcakes and tea as a special treat and a way for us to have a little taste of Persian culture. I am delighted to have found your blog and I look forward to trying some more of the recipes you have posted. I truly enjoy the stories you tell and the beautiful photos you take. Thank you for sharing your culture and recipes!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Dear Heidi, thank you so much for your comment and your kind words. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  34. My high schoolers loved the cupcakes! Good thing I saved one for my husband because there were not even crumbs left after my picnic with the students :) Thanks again for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heidi, I'm so glad you made cupcakes and that they turned out well for you. It's so nice to know. Thank you!

      Delete
  35. Was on a visit to Iran this past April/May and sampled these wonderful cakes. Since returning home, have been searching for the recipe. Finally found and tried them out a couple of times (without the rice flour though). They turned out just perfect! Will add on the rice flour and see.

    Azita, the hotel in Tehran served us some delicious semolina porridge for breakfast. It had a yellowish colour with lots of saffron and not too sweet. Would you have the recipe and what is it called? Was delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I've ever had semolina porridge for breakfast in Iran and I don't have a recipe for it. I'm so glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it. Thank you.

      Delete
  36. Oh my! Just finished making these tonight, and as soon as they were cool enough to touch, I just had to have a taste. I have never cooked with rosewater before, and that's why I really wanted to make these. I made as directed with no changes or substitutions. I so enjoy the flavor, not too sweet, and very light and airy. I don't even remember how I found this recipe, but I'm glad I did. Thanks so much for sharing. I will definitely be making these again. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you!

      Delete
  37. Sounds great! Looking forward to trying them. Do you know what I can substitute for the yogurt to make them dairy free?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi Azita, should the sugar be granulated or caster?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi, thanks so much for the recipe! I want to half the ingredients and I'm having a hard time figuring out how much butter to put exactly? Any help would be appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  40. OMG! one of the best cake yazdi recopies ever that I tried!!!!
    I made them today , they turned out beautiful,
    Thanks for sharing with us!

    ReplyDelete