This Yazdi cake baking recipe with traditional and delicious saffron makes tender Persian cupcakes scented with cardamom, saffron and rosewater. The cakes rise in individual liners, develop their characteristic split tops and finish with sesame, pistachios or a light honey-rosewater glaze.

Yazdi saffron cakes with split tops sesame and pistachio garnish

Yazdi cake is also searched as cake Yazdi, keyk Yazdi or shirini Yazdi. Many English searches call it a cake Yazdi recipe; although each portion bakes in a liner, a Yazdi cupcake is traditionally a small tea cake rather than a heavily frosted cake.

Yazdi cake ingredients

  • 375 g plain flour
  • 250 g sugar
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 250 g plain yogurt, at room temperature
  • 180 g neutral oil
  • 2 tablespoons cream
  • 1 tablespoon ground green cardamom
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons concentrated saffron infusion, divided
  • A small pinch of salt
  • Sesame seeds, chopped pistachios or other nuts, optional

Optional honey and rosewater glaze

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon warm water
  • 1 teaspoon rosewater

Prepare the oven and tin

Heat a conventional oven to 180°C, or a fan oven to 170°C. Place paper cake liners inside a firm muffin tin; liners used on their own can spread and leave the cakes flat.

Keep the rack in the middle of the oven. There is no need to switch heating elements during baking when the oven is properly preheated.

Whip the eggs and sugar

Beat the room-temperature eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 minutes. The mixture should become pale, thick and noticeably larger in volume.

Room-temperature eggs trap air more readily and combine with the other ingredients without chilling the batter.

Add the yogurt, cream, oil and saffron

Reduce the mixer to low. Add the yogurt, cream and oil in that order, mixing only until each disappears into the batter.

Stir in 1 tablespoon of the saffron infusion. A strong infusion adds flavour without making the batter loose; our guide to brewing saffron explains the method.

Sift and fold in the dry ingredients

Whisk the flour, cardamom, baking powder and salt together, then sift the mixture. The old recipe called for three siftings; one careful combined sift is enough if no lumps remain.

Add the dry mixture in three portions, folding or mixing at the lowest speed. Add the remaining saffron with the final portion. Stop as soon as no dry flour is visible; overmixing can make the cakes dense.

Fill and score the cakes

Divide the batter among the prepared liners, filling each about two-thirds full. Depending on the tin, the recipe makes roughly 16 to 18 cakes.

Dip the tip of a clean knife in oil and draw a shallow cross on the top of each portion of batter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if using. The scored surface encourages the familiar cracked crown as the cake rises.

Bake until golden

Bake on the middle rack for 18 to 24 minutes. Avoid opening the oven during the first 15 minutes.

The cakes are ready when the tops are lightly golden, spring back under a gentle touch and a skewer inserted near the centre comes out without wet batter. If they need more colour, leave them for another minute or two rather than exposing the tops to a strong grill.

Add the optional glaze

Let the cakes rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.

Mix the honey, warm water and rosewater. Brush a very thin layer over the warm cakes and add chopped pistachios or other nuts. The glaze should perfume the surface, not soak the crumb.

Why Yazdi cakes sometimes fail

  • The cakes spread: support the paper liners in a muffin tin and do not overfill them.
  • The crumb is dense: whip the eggs fully, check the baking powder and stop mixing once the flour is incorporated.
  • The tops do not split: score the batter lightly with an oiled knife and make sure the oven is already hot.
  • The cakes are dry: weigh the flour and begin checking before the maximum baking time.

Cake Yazdi calories

The exact value depends on cake size and toppings. If this batter makes 18 cakes, each plain cake is roughly 240 to 270 calories as a recipe estimate; honey, pistachios and larger portions increase that figure. This is not a laboratory nutrition analysis.

Serving and storage

Serve Yazdi cakes at room temperature with tea. Once completely cool, keep them in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

For longer storage, freeze unglazed cakes for up to 1 month and thaw them in the closed container so they do not dry out.