Two Ingredient Ispahan Cake with Raspberry, Rose and Lychee

This two ingredient Ispahan Cake is made with a can of lychee sparkling water and a really good cake box mix.  The icing is flavored with raspberries and rose water.  It makes for a quick and lovely looking cake.

First of All What is Ispahan?

It's a macaron invented by Pastry Chef Pierre Hermé when he still worked for Ladurée.  He named it after the ancient Persian City Isfahan known for it's roses.  The macaron is filled with rose flavored cream hiding a fresh lychee in the middle and the cream is further surrounded by fresh raspberries.  All if this is sandwiched in between bright pink almond macarons.

I remember tasting it for the first time in Paris.  It was a dream.  The flavor combination of raspberry, rose and lychee works so well and one of my favorites.  Now let's make it in to a cake.

What Two Ingredients Do You Need To Make Ispahan Cake?

Well, if he found out we are going to make this with a can of sparkling water and a box cake mix he will probably spew.  But oh well here we go.  About 2 years ago I experimented making a cake with a can of Sanzo and a box mix.  You can see that first cake on my Instagram Highlights.  For this Ispahan cake you will need the following:

Lychee Sparkling Water.  I like Sanzo as they use real fruit, I mean REAL fruit that you can taste the lychee and see it.  When you order some get the variety pack.  It's so worth it.

Vanilla Box Cake Mix.  I have tried it with both Miss Jones Bakes and FoodStirs.  The recipe works with both and turns out with the same texture.

Raspberry Rose Icing for the Ispahan Cake

To me what makes this cake even more delish is the dripping Raspberry Rose Icing.

Here is what you need:

Vanilla Frosting.  I actually haven't made frosting from scratch in a long long time.  I just use my go to healthy Frosting from Simple Mills.  I have a vanilla and chocolate one in the pantry at all times.

Milk.  You can use any milk here.  We are all inclusive.

Raspberry Powder.  - It's easy to make this from freeze dried raspberries.  You can get them at any supermarket in the dried fruit/nut area.  To make them into a powder use a mortar and pestle to grind them.

Rose water -You can get a bottle at the grocery store too.  It should be in the baking isle.  Usually on the top shelf, so look up if you do in store shopping.

Finally some dried Rose Petals, just for the pretty factor.

Let's Make This Ispahan Cake!

You will need a Bundt pan.  I used this beautiful one from Nordic, but you can use any. As you can see the pan has many nook and crannies.

I used Bakers Joy spray and the cake came out like a dream with the lines.  My advice is to spray it evenly and not too thick.

Okay now to the cake.  Get the Bundt pan ready by spraying it and then pre-heat the oven to 350F.  Next get a bowl and pour in the cake mix.  Take a whisk out and mix it so there are no lumps then pour in the can of Lychee sparkling water.  Mix well until nice and smooth.  Then pour it into the Bundt pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cake springs back to touch.  I like to use a long wooden skewer to poke through the cake to make sure the batter is cooked.  If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Now is the tricky part.  Getting the cake out of the tin.  The hack is to take out the cake while it's warm, so leave it to stand for 5 minutes.  Put the Bundt tin on top of a plate (you will need this to help flip it over so you don't burn your hands or arms).  Take the cake plate you will serve the cake on and put it top side down on the opening of the Bundt tin.  Using oven mitts carefully flip the cake over.  You should hear a small thud and the cake should just slip out.  Lift the Bundt tin off and leave the cake to cool fully.

How To Decorate The Cake

While the cake is cooling down make the icing.  Put the frosting and milk in a small sauce pan and melt over super low heat.  Once the frosting is nice and smooth add in the rose water and mix well.  Then add in the raspberry powder.  There will be some flecks no matter how much you stir.  It's okay.  It adds to the decor.

Once the cake is fully cooled drizzle the icing all over making sure it drips over the sides.

Finish with some sprinkles of rose petals.

How To Serve The Cake

To serve cut the Ispahan cake into small (or big) portions and place on a plate.  Drink with some light dessert bubbles or even with a glass of milk.

The texture of the cake is more like puto (steamed cake) than a lighter crumb traditional cake.  But if you appreciate a hack, try this one out.

These will keep on the kitchen counter for up to 3 days.  After that I would cut the rest of the cake into small portions and wrap individually and freeze.  Just defrost on the kitchen counter until it's back to room temperature to eat again.

Other Rose Flavored Drinks and Desserts To Try

Lychee Rosé Spritzer The Perfect Mom Drink to Rival Whiteclaw

Cardamom Rose Snickerdoodle Paleo Cookies

Step by Step Matcha Palitaw with Rosewater Black Sesame Sauce

Pistachio Rose and Cardamom Rolls

Cardamom Hot Chocolate with Rosewater Coco Whip