High altitude lemon pistachio cupcakes, with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice, and nutty, salted pistachios in both the cake and the buttercream.
You might also love this chocolate pistachio layer cake, lemon pistachio tea cake, and pistachio coconut cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Bright and Lemony. These cupcakes are packed with lemon flavor from lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon extract or paste. You can even fill them with lemon curd for more lemony goodness.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Lemons. You can use bottled or fresh lemon juice, but I recommend getting a few fresh lemons, since you’ll be using the zest as well. Zest the lemons first, then cut them in half to juice them.
- Cake Flour. For a softer texture, use cake flour instead of all purpose flour.
- Pistachios. To keep things easy, buy a bag of shelled, salted pistachios. I like to chop them very finely for both the cake and buttercream, which is easiest to do with a small food processor or ninja.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pans with 20 paper liners, and lightly spray the liners with non-stick baking spray.If you only have 1 pan, you can bake the first batch of 12 cupcakes and let the rest of the batter rest at room temperature until the pan is free to bake the second batch.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for a few minutes to let the milk curdle.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemon over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the chopped pistachios, then whisk everything together until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice/milk mixture, eggs, egg white, sour cream, oil, melted butter, vanilla and lemon extracts until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into the pan, filling the cups no more than 2/3-3/4 full.
- Bake on the center oven rack for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt, lemon extract and 1/4 cup of the chopped pistachios.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
- Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped pistachios.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Tip 1M.
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High Altitude Lemon Pistachio Cupcakes
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¼ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 1 small lemon
- 1 ¾ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup salted pistachios, very finely chopped
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg white only (save the extra yolk for another use)
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp lemon extract or lemon paste
Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp lemon extract or lemon paste
- ½ cup salted pistachios, very finely chopped
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pans with 20 paper liners, and lightly spray the liners with non-stick baking spray.If you only have 1 pan, you can bake the first batch of 12 cupcakes and let the rest of the batter rest at room temperature until the pan is free to bake the second batch.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for a few minutes to let the milk curdle.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemon over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the chopped pistachios, then whisk everything together until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice/milk mixture, eggs, egg white, sour cream, oil, melted butter, vanilla and lemon extracts until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into the pan, filling the cups no more than 2/3-3/4 full.
- Bake on the center oven rack for about 18-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt, lemon extract and 1/4 cup of the chopped pistachios.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
- Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped pistachios.
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