These Pistachio Cupcakes with Orange Mascarpone Frosting are made with real pistachio, no pudding mix allowed! The fluffy orange mascarpone whipped cream frosting adds a fresh citrus taste that pairs perfectly with these little bites of heaven.
A few months ago, I made these Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes and my friend immediately asked if they were pistachio cupcakes. Afterward, I could not get the idea out of my head. So I decided these Pistachio Cupcakes with Orange Mascarpone Frosting were going on the needs list.
Many recipes for pistachio cupcakes and cakes out there use pistachio pudding mix and no actual pistachio. What??!! But don’t worry, we’re going to change that today. I made sure these cupcakes are packed with a whole cup of ground raw pistachio nuts, no artificial flavor and no fake green cake batter. Just a tiny bit of cardamom adds a nice layer of flavor to these pistachio cupcakes.
And of course, we can’t neglect this amazingly fresh and light orange mascarpone frosting that just takes this nutty cupcake to the top. I know pistachio pairs really well with cheese and citrus. So naturally, mascarpone and orange came to mind. The frosting is made lighter and fluffier by using a whipped cream base. And honestly, who doesn’t like whipped cream?
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- When grounding pistachio in a food processor or a blender, stop occasionally to check the texture and to make sure you haven’t ended up with pistachio paste instead.
- A stand mixer is useful to have, but you can make cupcake batter entirely by hand just using a mixing bowl and a hand whisk.
- I like to use a large ice cream scoop to portion out the batter into the muffin pan. This makes it a much cleaner process.
- Again, a stand mixer is useful for making whipped cream, but an affordable electric hand mixer will work just as well.
- Cupcakes are best when enjoy within 1-2 days, but you can refrigerate them in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
These pistachio cupcakes are so good. Even a friend of mine, who makes faces at the sound of pistachio, gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow!
Find Something Else to Make with Cardamon?
- APPLE PIE
Pistachio Cupcakes with Orange Mascarpone Frosting Recipe
📖 Recipe card
Pistachio Cupcakes with Orange Mascarpone Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup raw pistachio nut
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 8 ounce heavy whipping cream
- 8 ounce mascarpone
- ½ cup powder sugar ((divided))
- 1 teaspoon orange zest ((zest of half an orange))
Instructions
To make cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a regular size muffin pan with paper liners.
- Ground the raw pistachio in a food processor or blender. Measure out 1 cup of ground pistachio to use in the cupcake batter, reserve the remainder for topping.
- In a medium bowl, add flour, ground pistachio, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and mix thoroughly with a whisk.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to a large bowl and mix with a whisk until smooth.
- Pour the flour mixture in with the liquid mixture and mix until just combined.
- Divide batter equally into the previously prepared muffin pan.
- Bake for 19 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove pan from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes.
- Take cupcakes out of the muffin pan and let cool on the wire rack completely.
To make frosting:
- Add heavy whipping cream with ¼ cup of powder sugar and the orange zest to the stand mixer bowl, beat until stiff peak forms.
- In small bowl, mix the mascarpone with the other ¼ cup of powder sugar with a hand whisk until combined.
- Combine mascarpone with whipped cream and stir until smooth.
- Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble cupcakes:
- When cupcakes cool completely, generously pipe frosting on top of each cupcake.
- Sprinkle extra ground pistachio over the frosting and enjoy.
Delicious!! I added a bit of orange zest to the batter as well, which I quite enjoyed. Next time I might try 50-50 cream cheese and mascarpone for the frosting for a bit more tang…
Thanks Brittany! Glad to hear you liked these 🙂
Hello
If i don’t want to frost the cupcakes, can i just add the one teaspoon orange zest in the cake batter itself?
Thanks
Yes, you can. But I really recommend the frosting, it’s delicious. Otherwise, the cupcakes will be missing an element and the taste won’t be complete.
Hello! I’m making these to give to some coworkers and I’m wondering about the whipped cream frosting lasting if made in advance. Should it be stabilized if I’m making the day before giving the cupcakes, or will it retain its structure with the addition of the mascarpone alone? Thank you!
The whipped cream should last a few days as is. I think if you make it the day before you’re giving these to coworkers, they should be just fine.
Hi Trang! I can’t wait to try this recipe but I do have a question about storing them since I can’t eat them all in one sitting. Whenever I bake cupcakes, they’re super delicious on that day but they become sticky on top and have a grainy texture the next day although I store them in airtight Tupperware. Do you know how I can prevent this from happening?
Hi Jean, are you storing them with the frosting on? I know that when cupcakes are very moist, sometimes the top can be a little sticky if you let it sit out, but that’s without the frosting. Usually the frosting covers that up and shouldn’t be a problem. The grainy texture is new to me. I don’t usually have problem storing cupcakes in the fridge for a few days. Sorry, I can’t be of much help. Let me know how it turns out.
this was sooooo yummy!
Glad you like them Melissa!
I’m dying to try this recipe, will definetely try today. When you say ground the pistachio the texture should be like fine dust or tiny crumbs?
Tiny crumbs, but be careful not to turn it into pistachio butter, cuz it can happen if you keep the food processor running too long. Just make sure you don’t have any large bits of pistachio, let it run, and stop and check, maybe pulse it when you can see that there are only a few large ones that needs to be broken up.
Thank you so much for your advice, I tried your recipe and oh my godness they were amazing!!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear Maggie, thanks for making my recipe 🙂
I made these last night and they were hands-down the best cupcakes I’ve ever made.
Thanks Sarah! So happy to hear 🙂
Made these exactly as written and they were AMAZING. probably the best cupcakes I’ve ever made. The orange mascarpone whipped cream/frosting is hard not to eat just by itself. A+++++ for this one.
Thank you so much Mallory! This really made my morning, so glad you love these 🙂
I replaced buttermilk with sour cream (coz fridge had one going to expire soon), granulated sugar with coconut palm sugar (which has a lower GI for my hubby has diabetes) The cupcakes turned out super good in terms of texture coz they are fluffy and light. But the pistachio taste was not strong enough; next time i will try using 1.5 cups! Love it and will use this batter as base for other flavors! Thanks a lot!!!!
Thank you for taking the time to give me feedback. I’m glad you liked it.
Struggling between healthy and yummy for sweet bakery , i found your blog and had a quick look through many of your recipes; they look great!!!! I love them “ approachable and not exceedingly sweet”!!!
Hi Carmen, thanks for stopping by! I love my sweets, and I probably eat too much sweets as is. But my motto is always eat in moderation, cut back on something else if you want a piece of cake today or ice cream tomorrow. You don’t have to eat an entire cake or a whole batch or cookies. Keeping yourself healthy is important but so is happiness 😉
My sister loves pistachios and I’ll be making these for her graduation.
Can I freeze the cupcakes and then unthaw and frost them the day before the party?
Yes, just make sure you freeze them in air tight container or freezer bag so they don’t get freezer burn and freezer smell. To defrost them, take them out of your container or bag and place them on a wire rack as if cooling them, this will keep them dry. Add frosting after the cupcakes are defrosted. Hope your sister loves them!
Hi Trang,
I would like to bake this as a birthday cake. Would the batter fit in 2 x 6″ round cake tins or should I use a larger pan?
I’ve never made this into a cake before but I feel like 2×6″ might make two really thick layers which would take a longer time to bake and might dry it out a bit. Maybe 3×6″ if you have an extra pan or try 2×8″ pans. I’d love to know how it turns out as well if you have time to come back and let us know 🙂
Hi Trang is there a substance to use istead of cardamom or anything “close” to replace it and these cupcakes are to die for , i gotta have them 🙂
Hi Alaina, I’m so glad you’re going to make these cupcakes. One of my favorite recipes for sure. Instead of half teaspoon of cardamon, try one of the followings depending on what you have in your pantry:
1. a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg
2. a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of ginger
3. a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of ground clove
The substitute may not deliver the exact same flavor but I think you’ll still have some delicious cupcakes to enjoy. Be sure to let me know how they turn out for you! Thank you for checking out my recipe 🙂
oh perfect now you’re talking I love cinnamon and ginger < I might try those and yes a great cupcake, thanks for creating it have a great day 🙂
Hi Trang. I just made these and they are very light but please help: i have a way overpowering teste of cardemon and i only used 1/8 of a spoon as i know its strong and i cant taste the pistachio even i used a cup and half as someone mentioned they will do next time. They also came out overvlowing the tops even if i filled the cups half. What could i have done wrong as i used all like written except use d less cardemon. Would like to try them again but need to get it right as pistachios are so expensive here. Thanks for your help.
Hi Liezel, you’re right about cardamom being strong, especially if it is freshly ground. If you don’t like it I would say a pinch is enough or even skip it because the pistachio flavor is actually very subtle in the cake. I think pistachio itself doesn’t have a strong flavor as is but I like the combo of it with cardamom and orange like in this cupcake. The only thing I can think of if you want more pistachio flavor is to skip the cardamom since it is a powerful flavor, or try to find a pistachio extract you can add. I’m not sure why the cupcakes would be overflowing if you only fill it halfway, are they not rising properly and just spilling over?? Do you have a picture you can send me?
Hi, I decided to make these cupcakes because I really love the combination of pistachios and orange, but I don’t understand what does raw pistachio mean? Is it 1 cup without the shell or with it?
Hi Ana, raw means the nuts have not been roasted and/or salted in any ways. And yes it is without the shell. I buy them in bulk at Sprouts, usually they would label them “raw” or “roasted and salted” etc.
Thank you for your quick reply 🙂 I’m from Croatia and I haven’t found unsalted and unroasted ones (at least not at a reasonable price), so I used the ones I had and it was still super delicious, thanks for a great recipe! 🙂
I’m so glad it worked out with the other kind of pistachio for you and so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Can you use pistachio butter or paste if you have it instead of the ground pistachios? And Would I use the same amount as the ground pistachios?
Hi Rachel, thank you for visiting. I cannot answer for sure since I have never used pistachio paste in baking, and specifically for this cake, but I encourage you to try it out. There are a few things to keep in mind, pistachio paste tends to include other ingredients like oil, sugar, and salt so it may alter the flavor of your cake. And also at this stage it would be considered a wet ingredient, so it may alter the texture of the cake. If using, I would beat it in with the wet ingredients instead of the flour. I don’t know for sure how much you should use, but I suggest you try 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup, if the batter comes out runny you may need to add some more flour. Or you could reduce some of the liquid ingredients, let’s say use 1/2 of buttermilk and reserves the other 1/4 cup to see IF you need to add it. For best results though, I would make the recipe as is with the nuts instead of nut butter as I cannot guarantee the outcome with substitution. However, if you decide to go ahead, I hope some of my suggestions are useful, and good luck! Come back and let me know how it turns out 🙂
These cupcakes look stunning! I love everything pistachio and I bet the flavour is amazing!
Pistachio and mascarpone is such a wonderful flavor combination; I can’t wait to try these!
Oh my goodness. Pistachio is my favorite cake flavor and this frosting puts these cupcakes over the top! In a good way.
Awe thanks! 🙂
These cupcakes look divine. I am pistachio obsessed, so I have got to try these very soon.
I have to say, it sounds perfect! Totally loving pistachio and orange flavour combination.
Thank you Agata!
So glad you used the real deal – so many recipes out there don’t! Will have to give these a try, they look and sound delicious
Thanks! I hope you’ll try them 🙂
I never thought to use an ice cream scoop, what a great idea! Thanks for the tips, these look amazing:)
Thanks for reading Tina!
I wanna eat all of these up. I love pistachio stuff and in love with mascarpone… I can only imagine it makes a good frosting.
Hey Ben! I love mascarpone, and yes it does make a really good frosting 😉
So great you have achieved natural pistachio cakes without the need for a pudding mix and I love the cardamom and orange flavours you’ve included too. Heavenly.
Thanks Lucy!
1 cup of raw pistachios yielded less than 3/4 cup of ground pistachios, so now I don’t have enough to make the full recipe. I grounded exactly 176 grams of raw pistachios which is almost 1.5 cups.
Hey Dina, when I made this recipe, I did not pack the ground pistachio, I remember just scooping the ground pistachio out of the food processor and spooning it into the measuring cup. If you ground 1 cup of raw pistachio, you should have enough for the recipe as I’ve specified 1 cup of raw in the ingredient list.
Yes! Agreed, there is too many pudding mix recipes out there and not enough using the real deal. These sound delicious and that frosting – brilliant, so creative ?
Thanks friend! These are my favorite right now, but I say this every time I create a new cupcake flavor 😀