A real treat for fans of this traditionally rose-infused sweet. With a rich chocolate sponge and a floral buttercream, the pomegranate molasses adds a Turkish-inspired tang that balances the sweetness, but you could use lemon juice instead.
Step 1Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 and lightly grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment.
Step 2For the cake, in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate, butter and coffee granules, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove bowl from the heat and stir in the oil, followed by the soured cream. Whisk [hand whisk not electric] in the sugar, then the eggs. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt and stir until smooth.
Step 3Scrape mixture into the lined tin and bake for 45-50min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Be careful not to overbake it, as this will make the cake dry. Leave to cool in tin for 30min, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4When cool, make the buttercream. Using a freestanding mixer or a handheld electric whisk, beat the butter and 1/2 the icing sugar in a large bowl until completely smooth (go slowly at first to avoid a cloud of icing sugar). Add remaining icing sugar, pomegranate molasses or lemon juice and rose water and beat until light and fluffy. Add food colouring, if using, to dye to a nice bright pink.
Step 5To assemble, slice the cooled cake in 1/2 horizontally and roughly chop a few pieces of Turkish delight. Spread 1/3 of the buttercream on the top of the bottom 1/2 of the cake and arrange the chopped Turkish delight on top. Lay on the top 1/2 of the cake. Pipe (see GH Tip) or spread the remaining buttercream on top and decorate with the remaining whole Turkish delight, chopped pistachios and rose petals (if using). Serve in slices.
GH Tip: We used a 17mm open star piping nozzle (tip #7FT or Wilton 6B) to decorate our cake.
TO STORE:
Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Per serving:
Calories: 721
Protein: 6g
Total fat: 42g
Saturates: 22g
Carbs: 79g
Total sugars: 63g
Fibre: 2g
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An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
