Rose Water And Pistachio Cupcakes

I would like to start this post by declaring that my new favorite flavors are Pistachios and Rose Water... besides chocolate of-course! Off-late I have been noticing a lot of pistachio or rosewater based desserts around me. I guess it was in my sub-conscience when I chose to try this recipe. How it really came together is a longer story and an interconnection of other sub-stories... hehe. Also, thanks to my husband for the awesome photos!

About a year back a friend of mine was going through a book called "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" and she was extremely excited about the Rosewater, Pistachio with Cardamom Cupcakes recipe. And she wanted to bake it for some special occasion that was coming up,but her being a medical student, as you can imagine, she couldn't get to it and I forgot about it.

I went to India for 2 months this summer, and on my way back, I picked up a tonne of pistachios from Dubai. Ever since I got back I have been on the quest to make some desserts based off pistachios (If you've not already noticed the pattern - I generally tend to buy many ingredients before knowing what i'll make with them.. hoarder tendencies!!)

Recently a friend had a baby shower. Both she & her hubby are not big fans of chocolate (yes, I am friends with such kinds of people too!! :P). I went on a mission to make some exotic flavored cake/cupcake which they would like. It all pieced together and I decided to make these beauties. It was the best decision ever! That's it for the saga.. now over to the recipe before you kick me...

P.S - I decided to graduate to a double digit number of posts on this blog, to mark the milestone of crossing 5000 hits!

P.P.S - I would also like to wish my dear friend Madhuri's Cook-curry Nook a super happy birthday :D and here is hoping for many more to come :)- Cheers!

Now over to the recipe. Really!

Ingredients:
Recipe is adapted from here

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/8 th Tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Finely Ground Pistachios ( you can grind it in a food processor)
3 Tbsp Butter, Unsalted at room temperature
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Large Egg, at room temperature
1/4 th Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Rosewater (Make it 1 Tbsp If you do not want the flavor to be very obvious, I added 2 Tbsp and it was just perfect )

• Preheat oven to 325 F and line a muffin pan with liners or grease it with some butter.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, pistachio powder.
• Add butter and beat on medium till the mixture is sandy in texture.
• In a medium mixing bowl whisk together milk, egg, vanilla extract, and rose water.
• Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients slowly. Once all of it has been added, beat on medium speed for some 30 seconds till well incorporated.
• Scoop out the mixture into the muffin pan cavitiestill its 2/3rd full. A note here: I might have filled it to more than 2/3rds, so this recipe yielded only 10 cupcakes.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in comes out clean.
• Cool on a cooling rack completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

Recipe Source : My own
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream,cold
2 Tbsp Granulated sugar
2 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar
1 Tsp Rose Water
2-3 Tbsp Finely Ground Pistachios
Pink Food Coloring (Optional)

For garnish: (Optional)
2-3 Tbsp of roughly chopped pistachios or you could even use whole pistachios

• Chill the bowl of the stand mixer and the whisk.
• Add the cream and beat on low till the cream is frothy. Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium high until the cream forms light peaks.
• Add the confectioners sugar, and the rosewater and beat on medium high until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
• Gently fold in the ground pistachios, but ensure it is mixed evenly.
• You are now ready to frost your cupcakes. You can pipe it onto them or just use an offset spatula and spread the frosting. If you have any left from all the "tasting" ;).... you can garnish with chopped pistachios or whole pistachios.

The cupcakes were delicious and were moist and had lovely texture, thanks to the ground pistachio. This cupcake had a delicate flavor to it and were a big hit at my friend's baby shower. As I declared earlier, Rose Water and Pistachios are my new favorites. Not only the flavor, I also thoroughly enjoyed working with these two ingredients!!