You may substitute the dried roses with other flavourings. Chopped candied lemon would go nicely with the pistachio.
If you don’t have masticha oil, you may use powdered masticha. Grind masticha tears together with granulated sugar to a fine powder. Use with care because the delightful and distinctive masticha flavour will turn your desserts to bitter and inedible if used to excess.
For the cupcakes
- 175g of butter
- 25g crema di pistachio (substitute with pistachio butter)
- 180g of caster sugar
- 200g of self-raising flour
- 4 medium eggs
- ½ tsp baking powder
- zest of 1 lime
For the buttercream
- 125g unsalted butter, soft but holding its shape
- 250g icing sugar
- 2-3 drops of masticha oil
- 2-3 tbsp full fat milk
To serve
- 25g shelled pistachios ground to a powder
- A few dried rose petals, optional
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake papers and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the butter, pistachio cream and sugar together until light and fluffy.
In another bowl, sift in the flour and baking powder.
Add one spoonful of flour and one egg to the butter mix and whisk to incorporate. Continue with the remaining eggs. Add the remaining flour and zest of lime, using a spatula to fold in, taking care not to overmix.
Spoon the cake mix into the cases and bake the cupcakes at 170°C for until they are lightly brown and spring back if you lightly press them with your finger, 20-25 minutes.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool.
To make the buttercream, whisk the butter for a few minutes until pale, fluffy and increased in volume. Add the icing sugar in two stages and keep whisking until pale in colour. Add the milk and the masticha oil, a drop at a time and whisk again. Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag. Pipe the icing on top of the cold cupcakes and decorate with the ground pistachios and dried roses.