These Pistachio Cupcakes are bright and cheerful, with a light, sweet, nutty crumb. They come adorned with a rich & creamy, only just sweet mascarpone frosting. The fanciest of cupcakes is yours for the taking.

Don’t miss my chocolate-dipped pistachio biscuits. They are fabulous.

Pistachio Cupcakes in green wrapper with frosting, chopped pistachios and fresh cherries.

I’m a sucker for a good cupcake. And no, I’m not talking about the ones that have been given the kid-friendly makeover with a mountain of sweet buttercream on top (though, in truth, I’d be hard pushed to decline one). Nope, I’m talking about cupcakes with interesting flavours and a much more subtle topping, like these Pistachio Cupcakes that come delivered to you with a barely sweet Mascarpone cream topping.

This recipe for pistachio cupcakes started life as a layer on a birthday cake for one of my daughters earlier this year. The cake – a spin on Neapolitan ice cream consisted of three layers – hibiscus, white chocolate and pistachio. It was good… very good.

But whilst we all enjoyed this cake, it was the pistachio sponge that got everybody talking. As it was so popular, I decided I really should create some pistachio cupcakes from the recipe, because it’s not everyday of the week I can justify baking a triple-layered cake.

Cut open pistachio cupcake revealing a green sponge.

Try one of these cupcakes alongside my pistachio latte for a bit of nutty-themed indulgence.

What’s in these Pistachio Cupcakes?

These Pistachio Cupcakes are cheerful individuals, with a sweet, nutty taste and texture. The crumb is light, with a little added depth and bite due to those vivacious little nuts.

So what’s in them? All the regular ingredients that you would expect to find in a sponge cake. But this recipe for pistachio cupcakes does also demand ground pistachio nuts.

And since I love a bit of colour when I’m cooking, I boosted the hue of these cupcakes with a tiny dab of green food colouring, but that is entirely optional – they will look just fine au naturel.

How to Grind Pistachio Nuts at Home

It’s very easy to grind your own nuts and they are way fresher than storebought. It’s also more or less essential for pistachio nuts, since you are unlikely to find a ground version in your supermarket.

Step 1: Begin by selecting the right nuts:

Use unsalted nuts to avoid excessively salty cupcakes
Pre-shelled are very convenient
But it’s ok to shell your own – just ensure you end up with 100g of nuts once they have been shelled

Step 2: Grind the nuts

I used a coffee grinder to grind my pistachios. If your food processor has a small bowl attachment, this would work well too

Grind in short bursts until medium fine – a little bit of texture is good
Don’t overwork the nuts else they will end up moist and clumpy rather than fine and dry
If the bowel of your processor/ grinder is very small but half of the nuts in at a time. It’s best not to overcrowd
A few larger pieces in the ground nuts wont matter. Once incorporated into the cake batter they will end up soft & tender

Here’s a handy video for anybody needing clarification. Though for these cupcakes I would avoid adding any sugar to the nuts during the grinding process as the video suggests.

Recipe for Mascarpone Frosting

Since I wanted the pistachio to be star of the show, I’ve deliberately kept the topping simple. My recipe for mascarpone frosting is creamy and rich, yet it has only a slight sweetness to it. Just a scattering of chopped or ground pistachios is all that is really needed.

To make this frosting simply:

Beat the mascarpone cheese until smooth
Add the double cream, vanilla extract and the icing sugar and beat again until the icing holds a firm, but gentle peak
Spoon into a piping bag and pipe the cream onto the cupcakes using a 1 cm star nozzle

I hadn’t planned on topping my cupcakes with cherries, but I caught sight of them in the fruit-bowl at the point of piping on the creamy topping and I knew, instantly, that it was the only way I should go.

You should know by now that cherries and me belong together all summer long. It’s no secret.