Thursday, January 6, 2011

Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes


These cupcakes were meant to be topped with a simple rosewater icing, but our cupcake testing showed that our family and friends preferred them topped with Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting made with a teaspoon of rosewater and tinted pink! We also didn’t use the optional pink sugar crystals. Instead, we piped them into flowers using a fancy-pants piping tip, then sprinkled crushed pistachios over the top of them. Very pretty and refreshing!!

Ingredients
½ cup vanilla soy yogurt
⅔ cup soy milk or rice milk
⅓ cup canola oil
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 to 2 tbsp rosewater
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Generous pinch cardamom
⅓ cup finely chopped pistachios, lightly toasted if desired
Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting (plus a few drops of red food coloring, and 1 tsp rosewater)
Chopped pistachios, for garnish (about ½ cup)
Pink decorating sugar crystals (about 1 tbsp), optional.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for mini-cupcakes). Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, soy milk, oil, sugar, and rosewater. Sift in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Mix until relatively smooth. Fold in pistachios. Fill liners three-quarters of the way. Bake 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Note: Be sure to use high-quality rosewater made with real roses (check the ingredients to make sure there’s no “perfume” or synthetic ingredients and that it’s meant for kitchen use).

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