Rosewater pistachio cupcakes with mascarpone cream frosting

Because its Valentines day and because no ones going to do anything special for me and because I felt like eating cake :)

I used to get all upset cos Ro hates everything to do with celebrating something (although he gives me some darn gift these days so i wouldnt sulk and make his life hell). These cupcakes were baked eons ago for Great British Chefs. I'm not a rosewater fan but the pistachio cake on its own is brill. Try it, cos you know, its Valentines day and all.

Makes 8 cupcakes

Pistachio nuts- 50 gms

Ground almonds- 60 gms

Plain flour- 25 gms

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Butter- 100 gms, at room temperature

Caster sugar- 100 gms

Eggs- 2 small

Milk-2 tbsp

Rosewater- 1 1/2 tsp

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp (optional)

Preheat oven to 176C and line a cupcake pan with 8 liners

Grind together the pistachio nuts, almonds and plai flour in a grinder or food processor. Make sure you dont over do this, or else you will be left with lumps.

Transfer to a bowl and add the baking powder.

In a separate bowl beat together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one after the other, beating well after each addition.

Pour in the milk, followed by rosewater and vanilla (if using) and mix well until well combined.

Fold in the ground mix using a spatula, till there is no trace of it in the batter.

Pour into the cupcake liners till about 3/4th full and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or till a skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcakes come out clean.

Take them out of the oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack while you get the frosting done.

Mascarpone cream frosting

Double cream- 100 ml (cold)

Mascarpone cheese- 250 gms 

Icing suagr- 2 tbsp

Red food colouring- a small bit to get the rose colour (optional)

Whisk the double cream in a large, clean bowl using the whisk attachment of your mixer or even a hand held whisk till stiff peaks form. Be careful to not overdo the beating or else it would split.

In another bowl mix the mascarpone cheese and icing sugar slowly till well combined.

Add this to the whipped cream, followed by vanilla and food colouring and continue whisking on low speed till they all come together and are mixed well.

Transfer into a piping bag and once the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe them.

Store in refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Sour cream vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream frosting and a Tala cake pan review

As cliche as it sounds, here's wishing all you guys a Happy Valentines Day in advance. I used to get all excited about the day during my school and college days when cards, flowers, gifts etc. were all part of the fun. Now, if the husband wishes me, its celebration time :) Other than the one time just after we got married, we have never actually celebrated V-day. This year isn't any different and so the most I could do was make these cute lil heart cakes and call it a day.

Talking of which, how adorable are these hearts? I think they are the perfect size, especially in households like mine where its just two of us and don't want to bake a huge cake to satisfy those sweet cravings. Tala is a very popular brand in UK and their retro-looking products are a fave of mine. This mini heart cake pan is from their bake ware range and is perfect for a V-day treat. The springform base makes it easy to release the cake and the non-stick interior does its job really well. The only issue I had was the batter seeping through the base when it went into the oven, but like all springform pans, its better to line the interior or place it on a baking tray to catch all the drips. Other than that, I am very happy with the cake tin.

I didn't want to actually bake a cake in the pan, I wanted to do something different, but lack of planning and a busy schedule meant a normal vanilla cake it was. I had some sour cream in the fridge and thought of putting it to good use. Hence the sour cream vanilla cake. The husband will be disappointed because a lot of vanilla-ness has been doing the rounds here. He will have to bear with this one too. I, on the other hand, love plain vanilla cakes and this one was great as well. 

About the frosting...I hate butter cream icing and that's the very reason why its not made its mark on my blog. Today however, I broke my vow, and went ahead and made it. Since a very small quantity was needed, I thought it should be fine. The taste, I still am not a fan, but the fact that you can pipe it out in whichever design, shape etc makes it a winner. I shall not be trying it out again, but maybe incorporate butter into my cream cheese frostings to make it hold firmer..yes that's a possibility.

Recipe adapted from here (makes 2, 10cm hearts)

 

Plain flour- 3/4th cup

Sugar- 1/2 cup

Baking powder- 3/4th tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Butter- 4 tbsp (57gms), unsalted and at room temperature

Sour cream- 1/4 cup

Egg- 1 small

Egg yolk- 2 small

Vanilla extract- 3/4th tsp

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a the bowl of your mixer using the paddle attachments.

Into it add the remaining ingredients one after the other and continue beating on medium speed everything is mixed well. There shouldn't be any traces of butter or flour visible.

Increase speed and beat well till you get a smooth and satiny mix.

Transfer the batter into the pans (greased lightly) and bake in an over pre heated at 175C for about 30 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean.

Take the hearts out of the oven and after 10 minutes release them onto cooling racks. 

Once completely cool, wrap them in cling film and refrigerate till ready to frost.

Vanilla buttercream frosting (recipe adapted from here) makes enough to fill and frost the cake as in the pic

Butter- 70gms, unsalted and at room temperature.

Powdered sugar- 85gms

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Milk- 1 tbsp

Red gel paste- a pinch

Beat the butter till light and fluffy.

Add the sugar, vanilla and milk and continue beating till they all come together. It should be smooth but stiff.

Add more milk (but by bit) to loosen the mix if needed or if too loose then add more sugar.

Add the red colour and mix till the colour is evenly spread throughout the  ix.

Fill the piping bags and pipe away.

Assembly

Bring the cake to room temperature and slice into half. It was really easy to slice these darls.

If you want, moisten the cake with some sugar syrup, or even coffee.

Fill with the butter cream and top with the other half. Pipe on the sides, and also fill the top if needed.

With thanks to Tala for sending me the heart shaped cake tin to review.