Pistachio cupcake with pistachio-lime cream cheese frosting

You would have thought that after I ingested most of the banana cupcakes that I baked few days ago , I don't have a hankering for yet another unwholesome goodies ?! Yeah , you shouldn't have made that frosting ..... Oops !!!

I bought pistachios few months ago and been meaning to bake these cupcakes for quiet sometime . I want to make another go at the same recipe that I made eons ago , go on , click the link , just don't mind those old unappetizing photos hee hee ! 

I love dense cake , I'm partial to pound cake but I like cupcakes with spongy/fluffy crumbs . The texture of this cupcake is dense as no leavening agent is used . I was thinking that it can be made a bit lighter by substituting some ingredients . So , I made some tweaks , crossing my fingers that my substitutions will work since pistachios are not that cheap ha ! In my tweaks , I used self-raising flour instead of all-purpose , used some oil instead of all butter since nuts are naturally-oily ( but I'll use less butter next time , I think 80 grams will be good ) . I also used less sugar though I haven't reduced it ruthlessly .  

Surprisingly , the texture is really fluffy which I wasn't expecting ! But wait , I don't have a consistent results , do check out images of the un-frosted cupcakes ( last photo below ) *sigh* I'm using a tabletop oven and I can only bake 1 pan at a time , I baked these cupcakes in 3 batches ugh ! The first batch turned out to be the most fluffy ( I forgot to take photo of it ) but since I filled each liners to nearly full , the top of the cakes look like a mushroom , good thing the batter didn't overflow during baking tsk tsk ! I should have filled the liners at about two-thirds . The texture of the last batch is slightly dense ( see last photo ) , maybe because it has been seating at room temperature for nearly an hour before I baked them ?!

Inconsistent results aside , there's no denying that these cakes tastes divine , okay , according to my unsophisticated palate ! It's moist , fluffy ( well , except for the last batch ) it smells sinful and just delicious ! Oh , the frosting ! You need it , trust me ! Surreptitiously looking at my ever expanding girth shhhhhh lol 

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes or check full recipe here

Makes 17 cupcakes 

100 grams ground pistachios
100 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature
40 grams canola oil
90 grams cream cheese
180 grams sugar 

3 large eggs , at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

* Preheat oven to 160°C . Line standard size muffin pan with 17 paper liners .

* Beat butter , oil , cream cheese and ground pistachios over medium speed until light and fluffy , 3 minutes . Add sugar , in 3 additions , until smooth , about 3 minutes , scrape the sides of the bowl as needed . On low speed , add eggs , one at a time beating just until incorporated , beat in vanilla . By hand , using a spatula , mix in flour and salt , stir until well combined , the mixture will be thick . Divide batter evenly among liners , about two-thirds full .

* Bake for 25 to 28 minutes until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean . Cool completely before frosting . Or you can serve it warm or at room temperature without frosting .

Pistachio-lime cream cheese frosting :

100 grams cream cheese , cut into cubes , softened
100 butter , half salted and half unsalted , cut into cubes , softened
100 grams icing sugar , sifted
25 grams ground pistachios
1 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest

* Beat half of the cream cheese and the rest of the ingredients until smooth . Add in the remaining cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy . Transfer frosting into a piping bag , chill for about 15 minutes before using ( if it is below 20°C in your side of the world , you can use it right away )