How to make Pistachio Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

You will need:

For the Cupcakes:

150g Self Raising Flour

175g Caster Sugar

175g Margarine

3 Eggs

75g Pistachios

2tbsp Milk

For the Buttercream:

200g Icing Sugar

90g Butter

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 tbsp Milk

Optional: 25g pistachios

Method:

1. Firstly, for the cupcakes. You want to grind up the pistachios into a course powder. I used a coffee grinder as I find it works better than a food processor.

2. In a bowl, cream together your margarine and sugar.

3. Then add your eggs and mix well.

4. Add your flour and the ground pistachio, and mix well until well combined.

5. Then add the milk and mix in until you have a nice batter.

6. Then divide your mixture between 12 cupcake cases, and bake in a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 5, 190C or 170C fan assisted for 16-20 mins.

7. To make the buttercream, Make sure the butter is at room temperature.

8. To the icing sugar add the butter and push the butter into the icing sugar using a fork. This should help keep the icing dust down.

9. Once the butter and icing sugar are as mixed as they can be, add the vanilla extract, then add the milk as required until it is a smooth buttercream. If you add too much liquid, add more icing sugar to bring it back.

10. Then decorate the top of each cupcake with your buttercream. As an optional you can top the cupcakes with chopped pistachios.