Persian Delight: Rosewater & Pistachio Cupcakes - A Recipe

I can't say roses are my favourite flowers, but the fragrance and taste are sensory delights.

Rosewater has and forever will remind me of my mother and the baked goods she would make us growing up. Sponge cakes drizzled with rosewater prior to being covered with whipped cream were her specialty and amongst the other sweet treats she would create, this one ingredient was her stamp... turning her creation into a "Persian Delight".

The combination of rosewater and pistachio in these cupcakes reminds me of my mum. I've been making them for a few years now but for my son's first birthday party, I changed the way I decorated them to really take me back to my childhood and also make the adult treats a bit more fun.

Delightful... Rosewater and Pistachio Cupcakes

Pistachio and Rosewater Cupcakes
Makes 12

Ingredients
For the cupcakes:

• 120g white chocolate (buttons or finely chopped)
• 4Tbsp rosewater (or to your taste)
• 1 cup (250mL) water
• 2/3 cup pistachios (ground - best to pulse in a processor)
• 180g butter (softened)
• 2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/3 cup self-raising flour
• 4Tbsp plain flour

For the decoration:

• 300g white chocolate (melted)
• 1tsp rosewater (to your taste)
• Rose Fairy Floss (I used and loved Spun Fairy Floss OR you can use finely chopped Turkish delight

Method

For the cupcakes:

• Preheat your oven to 180degrees. Line your cupcake pan.
• Combine chocolate, rosewater and water in a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until smooth.
• Beat butter, sugar and eggs with electric mixer until combined.
• Fold in sifted flours, ground nuts and warm chocolate mixture.
• Divide mixture into your paper cases.
• Bake for 25 minutes (or until a cake tester comes out clean).

For the decoration:

• Spread the melted chocolate and rosewater mixture onto the cupcakes (as thin or thick as you like) and top with either fairy floss or the pieces of Turkish Delight.

Enjoy with friends or treat yourself coupling this delight with your favourite tea... perfection.

*Tips:

• Some find the taste of rosewater to be overpowering so you may want to add a tablespoon at a time in the cake batter and leave it out of the melted chocolate mixture.
• If you haven't left the butter to soften, never fear, grate it.
• Leave the fairy floss detail until the last minute as it will 'melt' if left out in the open for too long.