Love and Olive Oil

Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes

Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes

Pretty cupcakes aren’t always delicious cupcakes, looks can be deceiving.

Case in point: Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes. Made from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook, which, up until this point, has been pretty failsafe. These? Not so much. The overly fragrant combination of cardamom and rosewater makes this cupcake taste like a bottle of perfume. In the future, I shall not waver from the tried and true formula for cupcakes: the addition of yogurt in this recipe just makes for a dense and slightly sour cake. Nothing light and fluffy about these pink poofs.

Pretty, yes. But we couldn’t even bring ourselves to eat a half dozen of them.

I still love the idea of a pistachio cupcake. But it needs some different flavor compliments, ones that bring out its nuttiness and don’t mask it behind perfumey yuckiness. Any ideas?

It’s a learning process, I guess.

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10 Comments

  1. What about just stickn to a real simple nutty, spicy (not hot spicy) pallet on your pistachio cupcake idea…. perhaps… pistachio, cinnamon, & nutmeg… and or clove…. or different entirely… pistachio, green tea, lemon, and basil cupcake and or cookies. which are kind of on opposite sides of the spectrum. The first one more fall-ish the second, more summery or spring-ish… meh. just a thought though. : ) hope i helped. lol.

    ~Rachel~

  2. i agree. these cupcakes are awful. i just made them. the rose flavor is sickening. they taste like a cheap synthetic perfume.

  3. Hi! Your blog is gorgeous, your photography, divine! I’m sorry to hear that these cupcakes were disappointing, and would like to suggest this recipe for Persian Love Cake, which has a similar flavor profile: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Persian-Love-Cake-232273.

    I’ve never made this cake, either, but gave the recipe to our favorite restaurant for our wedding dinner. It came out beautifully, crowned with sweet rose petals, and had a delicate, lovely flavor. Cheers!

  4. Add some ginger, get a flavored yogurt, maybe think about nutmeg?

  5. My roommate made these cupcakes and they are the best tasting cupcakes I’ve ever had. They were beautiful too. I’m going to whip up a batch today for a friend’s wedding shower. Maybe you could give them another try? It is important to buy natural (real) rosewater, not the synthetic. Perhaps this was the cause of the overly perfume-y taste you encountered. In your picture, it looks a bit overcooked too. My roommate’s were light-colored and very moist and fluffy. Delicious! Please give a second chance.

  6. I am so sorry you are disappointed with these fabulous looking and divine sounding cupcakes. Rosewater is a vert tricky ingredient…it can go down the ‘perfume’ road very easily, as you seem to have found out…but when you get it right it is sublime….have you ever had rose and pistachio turkish delight (lakoum)…it is sublime! Thanks for trying this out though and they do LOOK gorgeous!

  7. Oh, that is a shame. They ARE gorgeous. And I love rosewater desserts!

    I think mint (with the yogurt or sour cream) would be a good combo. But light on the mint.

  8. Pistachios and cranberries are a fav combo of mine. Too bad about the cupcakes, they really are pretty!

  9. I know the feeling. I made some pistachio and rosewater rugelach, thinking rose petal jam might be fun to try… Same effect, just not good. The cupcake is lovely though!

  10. They really are beautiful though…

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