Pistachio Crumbs Versus Paste In These Cupcakes
As I mentioned above, we did quite a bit of testing on the cupcakes and the buttercream to see what worked best in terms of flavor and texture, while also trying to keep them easy to make.
Cupcake Testing
First, we worked on the cupcakes. We started with pistachio paste, but the flavor got quite lost without adding a lot of it. We didn’t want to sacrifice the texture of the cupcakes, so we gave pistachio crumbs a try. Those added great flavor without sacrificing texture, so that was the winner.
Buttercream Testing
We then moved on to the buttercream. Since we were using crumbs in the cupcake, it seemed ideal to try and make that work for the buttercream, so that you wouldn’t have to use both. But while the crumbs gave the buttercream good flavor, pistachios don’t really grind finely enough, so it was quite textured. It bothered some of our taste testers, so we decided to try out the paste.
Initially the paste was added at the end of making the buttercream, similar to how you may add flavoring. But again, the flavor wasn’t very strong without adding a lot, which then altered the buttercream texture too much. Plus, the thick paste had a hard time fully incorporating and not leaving chunks of paste. So, instead we replaced some butter with the paste (and used more of it) and combined those first. That got the paste to be completely smooth, so I then proceeded with the buttercream from there. It worked beautifully and had great flavor.
So we had a winner! The best in terms of taste and texture for both parts of this cupcake. Unfortunately, that does mean using both paste and crumbs. I did decide to simplify the paste process a bit, to at least save a little time and effort there. I normally boil my pistachios before making pistachio paste, but I decided to try skipping that step. It worked well and while it’s not quite as smooth, it still works great for the buttercream.