I usually prefer to bake and eat healthy treats without refined sugar and any other processed ingredients. But there are a few occasions where I put my health goals aside. For example weddings! Celebrating love calls for something extraordinary and is about nourishing the mind and enjoying that special day to the fullest!
This past weekend a co-worker of mine got married, and I had the honor of making her wedding cakes. I was thrilled that she trusted me and my baking skills enough to let me take on that pretty significant task.
So for the last couple of weeks, I spent hours on Youtube, Pinterest, and Instagram to research pretty wedding cakes and other treats for such a special occasion. And I loved it! There are so many talented and inspiring bakers out there, and I enjoy exploring new recipes and baking methods.
In the end – and after several conversations with the bride – I decided to make a watercolor wedding cake (see picture on my Instagram account) and these pistachio and rose cupcakes. I think they are great for a wedding and I love how they taste and look like delicate roses. The recipe is from Cupcake Jemma’s book “The Cake Book.” Instead of the standard size, I made mini cupcakes because I prefer the bite-size version. Either works though.
While baking a wedding cake might be intimidating, baking these pistachio and rose cupcakes is literally a piece of cake! Give it a try and make them for your loved ones. Or for yourself, because it’s all about self-love.
If you are a more advanced baker, try this ombré cake. Or if you are looking for other cupcake recipes, check out these white chocolate cupcakes or these peanut butter and jelly cupcakes!
Love,
Marion
Pistachio and Rose Cupcakes
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 40g unsalted pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped
- 125g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda / bicarbonate of soda
- 125g sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 organic free-range eggs
- 1,5 tablespoon whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (or the seeds of half a vanilla pod)
- ½ teaspoon rose water
- For the buttercream:
- 150g unsalted butter, softened
- 300g icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- ½ teaspoon rose water
- Pink food-coloring paste, optional
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 170°C/375°F and line a muffin tray with paper cases. You can use a 12-hole standard muffin tray or a 24-hole mini muffin tray.
- Step 2 In a large bowl sift the flour and combine with chopped pistachios (leave 1 tablespoon aside for decoration), baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
- Step 3 Add the butter and eggs (both at room temperature) and beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute.
- Step 4 Stir the vanilla extract and rose water into the milk, add it to the mix and beat until well combined.
- Step 5 Fill the muffin cases two-thirds full with the mixture. I always tend to put too much mixture into the cases which will result in the dough to run over. So stick to the two-thirds rule. If there is any mixture left, set aside for another round of baking.
- Step 6 Bake the cupcakes for 12-14 minutes if you are making mini-cupcakes or 20 minutes if you are making normal-sized cakes. They are done when they spring back when touched.
- Step 7 Let the cupcakes cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Step 8 For the buttercream icing, beat the butter with an electric mixer for 5 minutes until fluffy and pale.
- Step 9 Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and add to the butter in two stages, beating well between each.
- Step 10 Stir the rose water and food-coloring paste (if using) into the milk, add it to the mixture and beat for another 5 minutes.
- Step 11 Once the cupcakes are cool, decorate with the buttercream icing using a piping bag and a closed star nozzle to achieve a rose-like look.
- Step 12 Sprinkle with the remaining pistachios.
I’m super disappointed in this post. You’re missing ingredients and I had to buy the book this comes from mid-bake.
Please double check that you’re providing people with the complete instructions and ingredients or else you’re really just doing a disservice.
My second batch came out perfect using Cupcake Jemma’s actual recipe.
Hi Nicky,
I am very sorry to hear that you had problems with the recipe. I double checked again and realized that I forgot to mention the milk for the cupcakes in the ingredients list. I am sorry I missed that and added it immediately. Was there anything else that was unclear in the recipe? I want to make sure my recipes can be followed easily and provide great results. So your feedback is incredibly valuable to me!
You might have noticed that I did not follow the exact recipe from Cupcake Jemma. And that wasn’t my intention. I always try to reduce the amount of sugar or make other smaller tweaks to adapt the recipe to my personal liking. If this wasn’t clear from my blog post I apologize.
I hope you enjoyed the cupcakes anyway and that you will come back to my site trying one of the other recipes as well.
Again, thanks a lot for your feedback!
Happy Baking!
Love,
Marion
Hi
Loved the recipe. Tried them recently and it turned out great!! 🙂 Will definitely be making them again!
FYI The ingredients list vanilla but i think you have missed adding it into the instructions!
Thanks
Hi Mrinal,
So happy to hear that you loved the recipe! And thanks for letting me know that there was the vanilla missing in the instructions – just fixed it.
Happy baking!
Love,
Marion
Hi, how many gram of milk should we put? 5 tablespoob? Or 1.5 tablespoon?
Hi Marion, I tried your recipe and substituted the vanilla and cardamom in the cupcake with 1 tsp of cardamom and retained the rose in the buttercream. My friends are so delighted, it is all they speak of. I keep getting requests to remake those every time we meet!! thank you for the luscious recipe!!
Thanks! I am so happy you liked the recipe!
What can I use to make this gluten free?