Step 1

We're going to start by blooming the saffron. So crush your saffron and add it into a small bowl.

Step 2

Add the ice cube into this, then leave this aside to melt. It's only one ice cube so this shouldn't take long.

Step 3

Once the ice cube has melted, you now have some saffron water. Pour this water into a pot, along with the milk and sugar.

Step 4

Break your cardamom pods open slightly, so that the seeds are exposed. Add these into the pot too, then give everything a mix.

Step 5

Place this onto medium heat and let this mixture come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, take it off the heat and cover the pot.

Step 6

Leave this aside whiles we make the cake layers.

Step 7

Start by pre-heating your oven to 180c/350f. Also line two 8 inch cake tins, make sure NOT to grease these, just add circles of baking paper to the bottom of them.

Step 8

In a large bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tartar, start whipping this. Once the egg whites become foamy, slowly pour in the first 125g of sugar, whiles still whipping. Once all the sugar has been added, whip until you get stiff peaks. Leave this aside.

Step 9

In a separate large bowl, add the egg yolks, the second 125g of sugar and the vanilla. Whip these together until the mixture lightens in colour and increases in volume slightly. This should take around 2-3 minutes.

Step 10

Add the oil and water into this, whisk until combined. Now add the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk just until you get a smooth batter.

Step 11

Add half of the whipped egg whites into this batter, gently fold these in. Now add the rest of the whipped egg whites and fold until you can no longer see any lumps or streaks of egg whites.

Step 12

Pour this into your cake tins then bake in your pre-heated oven for around 45-50 minutes. They're done once a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Step 13

As soon as these come out of the oven, flip them upside down onto a wire rack. Don't take them out of the tin, just leave them in the tin upside down. Leave them like this for 30 minutes.

Step 14

Meanwhile, get your milk mixture and sieve it to get out the cardamom pods and saffron strands.

Step 15

After 30 minutes, flip your cake tins over, so they are the right way round. Then pour the milk mixture over these.

Step 16

Leave these in your fridge for about an hour so they can soak up all the milk. You can also just leave these in your fridge over night and continue the next day if you wanted to.

Step 17

Once you are ready to put the cake together, make the whipped cream.

Step 18

Add all the ingredients for the whipped cream into a large bowl and whip until you get firm peaks.

Step 19

Take your cake layers out of the tins. I cut off the tops of them, just to get more flat even layers. This is optional though.

Step 20

Place one of the cake layers down onto a cake board, spread a layer of the whipped cream over this, then add the second layer of cake.

Step 21

At this point, you can decorate it however you want. I just iced the cake with the whipped cream, covered the sides with some chopped pistachios, piped some whipped cream swirls on top, then added some pieces of rasmalai on top of these swirls.

Step 22

Now cut into it and enjoy!