It’s awfully nice to have things to look forward to. Anticipation is so much of what drives a pleasurable life—it’s the forward-thinking cousin of nostalgia. Because we aren’t able to eagerly await many of the normal events lately (travel, vacations, weddings, parties, meeting a random stranger, ANYTHING BASICALLY), we have to craft our own excitements.
Rather than go bigger and grander, try narrowing your scope to focus on smaller joys—the thrill of eating the first ripe tomato, striped dark red and green, from the garden; buying a new novel in hardback and the tangible pleasure of turning and creasing the first stiff page; pizza for dinner every Friday night; an evening walk to the pier to sit and watch the sun sink over the water, turning the sky a luscious candy pink; picking a TV show (Top Chef) and making your way through it, one episode each night and no more.
Shipping a surprise package—just something small—to your sister (this impossibly tiny stretchy outfit) and waiting for the moment it arrives.
Watching an old movie you’ve never seen (An Officer and a Gentleman); watching a new movie you’ve never seen (Le Week-End).
A cold shower after a very hot 5 PM bike ride.
A creative challenge when you forgot to plan or shop for dinner but your neighbor hands you a bunch of sage from his garden…go! Sage! Pantry staples! One hour to cook! (I ended up making orecchiette with crispy chickpeas and fried sage; thank you, thank you, accepting nominations for Chopped at any time.)
Sitting outside to eat a bowl of cold blueberries in the sunshine.
Working on a new project. (I’m considering some sort of newsletter—email-based, and playing around with what it could look like and include, whether it’s just a list of latest blog posts all in one spot or little snippets of interest, like poetry and music I’m liking and so on. If you have thoughts on what would be fun to read, or thoughts on whether this is something you’d want to receive, please let me know!)
Baking—always, always, I find baking a meditative and interesting part of my day. If I’m at a loss for how to bridge the gap between noon and 3 PM, I bake. If I’m feeling unproductive, or frustrated at the absolute chaos of the pantry cupboard, or at a loss for how to use up the last half cup of yogurt languishing at the back of the fridge, I bake.
Today you should too—and I’ll offer up a recipe that likely wouldn’t have been on your to-do list, in the hopes that the novelty of it will add some anticipation to your own week.
These pistachio cardamom cupcakes are moist and very tender—the crumb is not unlike that of a golden layer cake, the sort you’d stack and frost for a birthday. A tangy cream cheese and cardamom frosting is swirled on top, although if you wanted to leave that off, I’d recommend doing a simple cardamom glaze (sugar + water + cardamom).
If you’d like to make them as a regular-sized cake instead of cupcakes, you could. Just divide the batter between two 8” round cake pans and bake.
Pistachio Cardamom Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 14 cupcakes
For the cupcakes
1/2 cup (60g) shelled raw pistachios
1 1/3 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (107g) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom
pinch of salt
5 to 5 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
chopped toasted pistachios, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease—or line with papers—a standard muffin tin.
Place the pistachios in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are finely ground but be very careful not to overdo it, as they can easily turn into a paste.
Transfer the nuts to a medium bowl; add the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom and whisk to combine.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each.
Add the milk and vanilla along with the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating between the wet and dry. Mix until the batter just comes together but don’t overmix.
Divide the batter between 14 wells of the muffin tin—I like to fill mine up about 3/4 of the way full, so that might be slightly more or fewer than 16, depending on how full you make them.
Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back lightly when pressed. Remove from the oven and let cool fully before frosting.
To make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer until very fluffy, about 5 minutes at medium-high speed. Add the vanilla, brown sugar, cardamom, and salt and beat well.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, and beat until very fluffy. You may not need all of the sugar.
Pipe or spread the frosting over the cooled cupcakes and garnish with the chopped pistachios.