Pistachio Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
These Pistachio Chocolate Cupcakes have a delicious flavour combination from the rich chocolate cake combined with the smooth yet nutty pistachio whipped ganache. The chocolate cupcakes are light and moist while the ganache is creamy and light.
So how do I make these Pistachio Chocolate Cupcakes from scratch?
These cupcakes do take a few steps and a little work but I promise they are so worth it. To make these Pistachio Chocolate Cupcakes there are the following steps:
- Pistachio White Chocolate Whipped Ganache
- Chocolate Buns for Cupcakes
- Assembling the Cupcakes
Pistachio White Chocolate Whipped Ganache
To make the ganache, begin by adding 100 grams of the cream, all the honey, and white chocolate to a small saucepan. Heat on a low heat until the chocolate had fully melted. Remove from the heat and add the remaining cream and pistachio paste. If you want, you can add a few drops of green food colouring now. Whisk briefly with a whisk and then using a hand blender, blend for 1-2 minutes until everything has fully emulsified. You will have small bubbles on the top of the ganache, this is normal.
Pour into an airtight container and pop into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Chocolate Buns for Cupcakes
To begin, in a small mixing bowl or jug, add the cocoa powder and hot water and whisk briskly until the cocoa powder has completely dissolved and leave to one side. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar and baking soda. Whisk together to break up any lumps. Pour the cocoa mix into the large bowl with the flour and sugar and whisk together until no lumps remain. Add the cubed butter into the cake batter and whisk together for a minute or two until all the butter has melted into the batter. Using room temperature butter will help speed this up a bit.
Add the eggs to the batter one by one, mixing well in between additions. Stir in the vanilla. Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, transfer the batter to the cupcake cases in the cupcake tin. Fill each cupcake case about 2/3 of the way full, leaving a little gap at the top so the cakes have room to rise. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool fully before icing.
Assembling the Cupcakes
Once the ganache has totally cooled, pour it into a large mixing bowl. Whisk on medium with an electric whisk or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment added for 3-4 minutes until thick and pipe able. When whipped fully, chill it again for 5-10 minutes for easier piping.
Pipe the chilled whipped ganache on top of each cooled chocolate bun. Top the cupcakes with some finely chopped pistachios. Serve immediately or store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes you can freeze these cupcakes. Place into an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
There are a number of reason why your ganache didn’t set or won’t whip. For detailed instructions and troubleshooting, check out my post here for Pistachio White Chocolate Whipped Ganache.
Pistachio Chocolate Cupcakes
Equipment
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Hand blender
- 1 Electric whisk
- 1 small mixing bowl or jug
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 cupcake tin with 12 holes
- 12 cupcake cases
- 1 Piping bag optional, for decoration
- 1 star piping nozzle optional, for decoration
Ingredients
Pistachio Whipped Ganache
- 150 grams white chocolate
- 100 grams cream
- 30 grams honey
- 10 grams cream
- 20 grams pistachio paste, unsweetened
- 1-2 drops green food colouring optional
Chocolate Buns
- 20 grams cocoa powder
- 90 grams hot water
- 90 grams plain or self raising flour
- 110 grams caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 80 grams butter cut into small cubes
- 1 whole egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
For decoration
- 20 grams pistachios chopped finely
Instructions
Pistachio Whipped Ganache
- In a small saucepan, add the first amount of cream, honey and white chocolate.
- Heat on a low heat, stirring often until the white chocolate has completely melted.
- Remove from the heat and pour in the second lot of cream along with the pistachio paste and food colouring, if using. Whisk together briefly.
- Blend the mix together for 1-2 minutes using the hand blender until all ingredients have been combined.
- Pour into a medium mixing bowl or an airtight container.
- Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge but preferably overnight.
Chocolate Buns
- Preheat oven to 170°c (340°f) or 160°c (320°f) if fan assisted.
- In a small mixing bowl or jug, add the cocoa powder and hot water and whisk briskly until the cocoa powder has completely dissolved and leave to one side.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar and baking soda. Whisk together to break up any lumps.
- Pour the cocoa mix into the large bowl with the flour and sugar and whisk together until no lumps remain.
- Add the cubed butter into the cake batter and whisk together for a minute or two until all the butter has melted into the batter.
- Add the eggs to the batter one by one, mixing well in between additions. Stir in the vanilla.
- Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, transfer the batter to the cupcake cases in the cupcake tin. Fill each cupcake case about 2/3 of the way full, leaving a little gap at the top so the cakes have room to rise.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow the buns to cool completely.
Decorating
- Once the chocolate buns have cooled and the ganache has chilled begin decorating.
- Pour the pistachio ganache into a large mixng bowland whip using an electric whisk or hand whisk for 2-3 minutes until the ganache has thickened and become pipeable.
- To make it even firmer, transfer to a piping bag and place back into the fridge for an hour.
- Pipe the whipped ganache onto each cupcake and sprinkle the chopped pistachios on top.
- Serve immediately or store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days
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