Rose & Pistachio Buttercream Flower Cupcakes
Rose & pistachio buttercream flower cupcakes - the perfect bake for Mothers Day. Moist pistachio sponge and a delicate floral rose buttercream piped into beautiful rose petals.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 170 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 170 g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp rosewater
- 3 large eggs
- 130 g plain flour
- 50 g ground pistachios
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 tbsp milk whole or semi-skimmed
- green food colouring optional
Buttercream
- 290 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 475 g icing sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp rosewater
- pink gel food colouring
- green gel food colouring
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: Firstly preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake/muffin cases. Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl and using a hand-held electric whisk, beat together until well combined and light. Then add the rosewater and the eggs one at a time, whisking well between each addition. Then add the flour, ground pistachios, baking powder and salt and beat together until just combined. Finally add the milk and a small blob of green food colouring and beat together again, until just combined. Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 23 minutes until springy to the touch.
- For the buttercream: Place the butter into a large bowl using a hand-held electric whisk, beat for 3-4 minutes on a high speed until visibly lightened in colour and very light. Then add the icing sugar in increments, beating until well combined with each addition. Finally add the rosewater and milk and beat the buttercream again for 2-3 minutes until well combined and light.
- Scoop out about 2/3 tablespoons of the buttercream and place into a small bowl. Mix green food colouring into this to create the buttercream for the leaves. Then place into a piping bag fitted with a leaf piping tip. Then in the remaining buttercream mix in the pink buttercream for the rose petals, then place into a piping bag fitted with a rose petal piping tip.
- To decorate: The first step is to create the centre of your rose, or the 'bud'. To do this, hold the pink buttercream piping bag at a 45degree angle to the cupcake in your writing hand, and hold the cupcake in the other. The wide base of the piping tip should be touching the cupcake, with the thinner end of the piping tip pointing up and slightly inward. Turn the cupcake slowly in your hand, whilst squeezing the piping bag with the other hand, to create a ribbon of buttercream that creates a cone like shape. Once the ribbon of buttercream has overlapped, release the pressure and pull the piping bag away. That is your centre petal.
- Then, to add the surrounding petals, hold the cupcake in one hand and the piping bag in the other like before, but this time pipe small curved strips, starting and ending with the piping tip touching the cupcake. You want the strips to curve into the centre petal a little, almost like piping little stand-up rainbows. Continue this pattern all the way around, gradually getting bigger/longer as the petals stack up.
- Finally, switch to the leaf piping bag and pipe a few leaves on the edge of the rose petals. Repeat the process with all the cupcakes.
Notes
Cupcakes will keep at room temperature in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.
I used Wilton tip 103 for the rose petals and Wilton top 70 for the leaves.