These eggless pistachio cupcakes are flavoured with cardamom and topped with a silky saffron buttercream frosting. The perfect bake for special occasions or the festive season.
Table of contents
Pistachio, cardamom and saffron are a match made in baking heaven! These glam pistachio cupcakes are beautiful enough for parties and special occasions but are fairly easy to make.
Pistachio is a favourite flavour of mine and it goes so beautifully with Indian spices. It bakes really beautifully and it has an unmistakable taste.
You may have already come across my Saffron and Pistachio Shortbread, Rose and Pistachio Cream Cones and Pistachio Halwa. This Vegan Pistachio Olive Oil Cake is is full of bright flavour.
The frosting is a luxurious blend of buttercream with hints of saffron. It's golden in colour with the exquisite taste of saffron.
I finish off the cupcakes with the most delicate hint of pistachio dust just to give it an ultra high-end look! I think you'll love these.
Ingredients notes
Eggless pistachio cupcake batter
Self raising flour - a type of flour that has baking powder already mixed in, making it convenient for baking recipes that require leavening. To make it at home, simply combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder.
Sunflower oil - essentially you need a flavourless oil here.
Crushed pistachio - I grind whole pistachios down to a coarse texture. Ensure to use the plain variety and not roasted/salted.
Sugar - use white granulated sugar.
Cardamom powder - not essential but adds an Indian touch to this recipe.
Milk - whole milk works best due to its fat content.
Lemon juice
Natural yogurt
Baking powder
Bicarbonate of soda
Saffron buttercream frosting
Butter - unsalted is best, ensure it is at room temperature
Icing sugar - also known as powdered or confectioners' sugar. To make it at home, blend 1 cup of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a blender or food processor until it's a fine, powdery consistency.
Saffron threads soaked in a spoon of warm milk. Ensure the milk reaches room temperature before adding to the buttercream to prevent splitting.
Garnish with fine pistachio - when grinding down pistachios for the batter above, you can sieve out the fine pistachio for garnishing.
Storage
You can store pistachio cupcakes in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature.
You can freeze unfrosted cupcakes for 3 months but it is likely that the texture will change upon thawing.
More Eggless Baking Recipes
As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can't wait to see you all there!
Eggless Pistachio Cupcakes with Saffron Frosting
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- oven
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Muffin tray
Ingredients
Cupcake batter
- 280 gram self raising flour
- 240 gram sugar
- 75 gram pistachio
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 80 millilitres sunflower oil
- 350 millilitres milk
- 2 teaspoon natural yogurt
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Saffron buttercream frosting
- 250 gram unsalted butter
- 200 gram icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 10 saffron threads
Decoration (optional)
- pistachio powder
- rose petals
- edible silver leaf
Instructions
Cupcake method
- Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4, 180 C or 360 F. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the milk and lemon juice and rest for 5 minutes.
- Add in the oil and yogurt and whisk until well incorporated.
- Sieve in the self raising flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Add in sugar, ground pistachios and cardamom powder.
- Whisk gently until well combined.
- Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases until half way.
- Place the muffin tray in the centre of the oven and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. You can check by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the cupcake - it should come out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Saffron buttercream method
- Into a small cup or bowl of lukewarm milk, add a few strands of saffron and allow to steep.
- Ensure your butter is softened to room temperature.
- Add the butter to a mixing bowl.
- Sieve in the icing sugar to remove any lumps.
- Beat together until you achieve a silky smooth buttercream.
- Pour in the saffron milk (it must have reached room temperature) and mix through.
Decorate
- Decorate each cupcake with the frosting either by using a spatula or piping with a piping bag.
- Sprinkle over fine pistachio and rose.
- Finish with edible silver leaf.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Share on Facebook Pin This RecipeNote – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First published in January 2012.
wow that looks beautiful. nice treat for eyes and must taste yum for sure
Awesome delicious eggless cupcake...
Nish, just a comment or post as well...coz I was thinking changing font of post..not sure what others thinks? let me ask them on fb...
Thanks
You're welcome 🙂
Ah ok, I get it now..
And hey Jagruti, I hope you won't mind this - but the comments font is kinda difficult to read, you know what I mean? Not sure if others feel the same... :-/
wow..cute muffins..looks yummy!
simply superb...i'm drooling over here.
Thank you Nish for lovely comment. yes Nish I did use philadelphia cheese, wen I made it first time my frosting went runny, I kept adding sugar but it wasn't helping. so second time I used kitchen towle ( paper ) to soak all the water from the cheese then frosting came out perfect. Maybe the pot I had , had little wter...:-(
Nice Indian touch to it! The name of cupcake itself sounds soooo good!!
Did you use Philadelphia Cream Cheese? Just wondering why would you hang it in muslin cloth because it doesn't have water anyway...
(if you're replying to this you can just reply here, I'll come back to check!) 🙂
These have turned out beautiful and look delicious.
Cute cup cakes. Love to follow u
Thank you girls...@Deepa, muje 9th cloud pe mat bhejo....:-))
Beautiful cupcakes.
Wow...those cuties look so yummy and tempting.Perfect for the occasion..
Thanks Priya..very quick :-))
Damn cute and elegant cupcakes, well done Jags..