High Altitude Strawberry Pistachio Cupcakes
These pistachio cupcakes are nutty, moist and slightly dense, frosted with fluffy strawberry buttercream, and sprinkled with crushed pistachios.
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
Pistachio Cupcakes
- 1 cup (5 oz) salted, shelled pistachios, very finely chopped
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (22 g) freeze dried strawberries, crushed into a powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder (optional)
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Pistachio Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line standard muffin/cupcake pans with 20 paper liners.
- Use a food processor or Ninja to finely chop the pistachios. Set aside 2 tbsp of the chopped pistachios for decorating later.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all but the reserved 2 tbsp of chopped pistachios with the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the melted butter, milk, sour cream, eggs, oil, vanilla, and almond extract.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and whisk the batter until combined; it will be slightly thick.
- Divide the batter between 20 cupcake liners, filling them no more than 2/3 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
Strawberry Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute, until smooth.
- Use a food processor or ninja to finely crush the freeze dried strawberries into a powder; you should get about 4 tbsp of powder.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the crushed freeze dried strawberries, meringue powder, and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium, and whip for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. If needed, add 1-2 tbsp milk for desired consistency. Turn the speed down to "stir", and mix for one more minute.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with buttercream. Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, and sprinkle with the remaining crushed pistachios.
Notes
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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