Pistachio Cardamom Cupcakes with Rice Pudding
February 27, 2008 | Filed Under Baking, Cakes, Cupcakes | 17 Comments

I found this wonderful Pistachio Cardamom Cupcake with Rice Pudding recipe on Vanilla Garlic. The name alone conjured all kinds of delicious thoughts. Pistachio. I love pistachio! Cardamom. I love Cardamom! Rice Pudding. I love rice!
I never tasted these ingredients together. Who heard of rice pudding in a cupcake? Not me. But it sounded like something I wanted to try, for sure.
I started out with the rice pudding, which took much longer to make. I loved how it turned out nice, sweet and creamy. Then I prepared the cupcakes. The aroma of the cardamom and vanilla filled the kitchen transporting me to a magical place. Made me do my happy dance.
The cupcakes tasted delicious. While some family members and I liked the combination of rice pudding in a cupcake, others didn’t. So, they ate the plain cupcakes. I have to say that the cupcake with the rice pudding tastes best when eaten a short time after it comes out of the oven. Delicious! I know I’m repeating myself but the cupcake really was delicious. I took a bite, closed my eyes and savored all the flavors dancing on my tongue.
I made these Pistachio Cardamom Cupcakes with Rice Pudding in honor for my friend who just celebrated a birthday. Happy birthday month, Nancy! Besos desde New York!
Paz

Pistachio Cardamom Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes/ 350 degree oven
What you’ll need:
1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)
½ cup of whole milk
¾ cup of unsalted, unroasted pistachios
1 cup of flour
2 teaspoons of ground cardamom
2 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
What you’ll do:
1- Cream the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure complete mixture.
2- Place pistachios in a food processor and chop until finely ground. All the flour, cardamom, salt, and baking powder until pulse once or twice to mix.
3- Add the mild and vanilla extract if using it to the butter mixture. Mix wll. Add the pflour-pistachio mixture and mix until blended.
4- Place into cupcake papers, and bake for 16-20 minutes, unitl a cake tester comes out cloean (no crumbs) in a 350 degree oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
5- Cut out small cone shapd pieces of the cupcake and scoop the rice pudding into the little cupcake potholes you’ve made. Cover with chopped pistachios.
Rice Pudding
Mastering Simplicity
Serves 4-6 (enough for cupcakes, plus a lot more for snacking!)
What you’ll need:
¾ cup of long grain rice
1 bay leaf
5-6 cups of whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup of sugar
large inch of salt
What you’ll do:
1- Place rice in a small sauce pan with the bay leaf and two cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then drain. Transfer rice and bay leaf to a heavy 3 quart pot.
2- Add 4 cups of milk, the sugar, vanilla bean, and the salt. Place over very low heat, stirring occasionally until milk has been absorbed by rice, about an hour. Rice should be tender and rice should be creamy. Add another 1 or 2 cups of milk and continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes. Stir often to prevent the bottom from burning. Revove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.


Pistachio Cardamom cupcakes without the rice pudding. Some preferred that.

Yikes! I had to shell A LOT of pistachio nuts but it was worth it. I love pistachio nuts.
New York Monday #111: Here, birdy, birdy!
February 25, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 11 Comments

Most New Yorkers call pigeons ‘Rats with Wings’. But I’ve developed a new admiration for these birds. I’ve found that they are intelligent and true survivors in the city. A little cautious, the pigeon above posed for me to take its photo. Have a great week, everyone!
Paz
New York Monday #110: Looking at Central Park…
February 17, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 6 Comments

… on a cold day.
Have a great week, everyone.
Paz
Tag, You’re It! (Meme!)
February 16, 2008 | Filed Under Memes | 11 Comments

Rebecca of From Argentina with Love tagged me for this Tag, You’re It! (Meme!). I’m supposed to write 5 facts about myself. Gee, folks. This is hard. There’s not much to write but here it goes…
1. There’s the time I majored in Classical Studies (and Romance languages) in undergrad college. I wanted to be an archeologist — a female Indiana Jones.
2. There’s the time that I took tango lessons after seeing the 1997 movie The Tango Lesson. I thought I’d get a hot, handsome, Latino dance teacher and fall in love, like the movie. Instead I got this grumpy, unhappy, blonde-haired female American teacher. Plus I sucked at the tango. I am NOT a dancer. I love to watch tango dancers, though.
3. There’s the time I used to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Actually, I still do. I especially enjoyed the 1992-1995 Batman TV (cartoon) series and the 1996-2000 Superman TV (cartoon) series They don’t show it anymore. They’re showing a 2004 Batman TV cartoon version. It’s okay. I’m not crazy about it. The cartoons they show today, pretty much suck, in my opinion. I love the 2005 TV series Avator: The Last Airbender. That’s a cool cartoon, although I haven’t seen that in a long while. They show it on a cable station. I don’t have cable. ;-(
4. There’s the time when while walking on the streets of NYC, I passed by the likes of Michael Jackson, Brooke Shields, Alec Baldwin, Liam Neeson, Natsha Richardson, the Icelandic singer, Björk (who wore the famous swan dress to the 2001 Oscars awards show) and more. In the city, I see a lot of celebrities all the time — practically bump into them. However, I’m not star struck. I really don’t care if I see them or not. They put on their pants/skirts one leg at a time, like me. So, I take look at them but keep walking. No biggie.
5. There’s the time, when I was in Egypt, a very persistent fellow wanted my hand in marriage. He told me that he’d offer many horses to my family, including a white stallion. Too bad for him, I don’t know much about horses.
Thanks for the tag, Rebecca.
Oh, by the way, I’ve done similar memes. If you’re interested in reading more, you can find them here.
I tag the following:
1. Mari – Cha no ma-ri
2. Britt-Arnhild – The Blue Café
3. Kat – Our Adventures in Japan
4. Megan – Pennypincher’s Pantry
5. Dorit – PrettyBaking in Israel
Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their Blogs.









