Pistachio Cupcakes!

 My latest cupcake attempt included two things I have never used before in a cupcake: 1) Pistachios; 2) Pistachio butter.  First of all, not a super fan of pistachios--but my dear ol' husband picked the flavor of the day.  So after searching high and low for pistachios that were unsalted and didn't cost a fortune, I found myself at Trader Joe's (I should have known!).  Okay, key ingredient--check.

Now for the pistachio butter.  Pretty much all you gotta do is put the nuts in the food processor and blend away.  Ends up with the same coloring as peanut butter, weird since the pistachio is bright green.  Hmm.

This recipe was pistachio on top of pistachio.  The batter is your basic white cake batter (cream cheese adds some tangy flavoring) with the butter added in and then another handful of roughly chopped pistachio's gets folded in at the end.

On top sits a powdered sugar glaze with more pistachio slivers as garnish.  I think next time I make this recipe I will try a cream cheese frosting.  The overall taste is a cupcake that is not too sweet since the nutty flavoring is more predominant than the powdered sugar.

PS.  This 36 cupcake carrier is awesome! 3 trays stack nicely inside that keep the little cakes from toppling over.  Also, serves as a huge Tupperware to keep them fresh rather than stacking them on a tiny cake stand.  Thanks to my little sister for a super birthday gift!