Pistachio What?

For a while now, I have been wanting to make the Pistachio Rosewater cupcakes from VCTOTW. They look so pretty on the cover of the book...they sound so fancy and exotic and lovely. Then one day in my favorite Amish store I stumbled upon a bottle of rosewater for 25 cents. I bought some pistachios at the local grocery store. Last Thursday I had some time and felt like baking so there was my chance.

Grace and I spent a good half hour or longer shelling pistachios and chopping them up. It was kind of fun, especially since Grace was eating them almost faster than we could shell them. I got the batter ready, and all the time this was running through my head: "What the fuck was I thinking?" But I pressed on.

I was going to make the frosting pink, but Grace wanted blue, so there you go. They were gorgeous little cupcakes. Mikel came over and I said, "I made some cupcakes, but I'm a little scared." She could smell the perfumey smell of roses that had taken over my house. Bravely, she took that first bite along side me. And holy nastiness, the look on her face. She apologized, then threw hers away. I did the same. We both felt a little sick.

Grace was licking the frosting off. "They're not gross to me!" she declared.

I don't know what made me think that I would enjoy something that tasted like a rose. The smell and taste were too strong. I seriously do not believe this was a recipe bomb. The cookbook is amazing. People in Iran and other countries in the Middle East eat this Persian combination of pistachios and rosewater all the time. I'm sure it's a matter of personal taste.

After a few bites, Grace threw hers away too. For the first time ever, I threw out an entire batch of cupcakes, and it just about killed me to do it.

I now shudder when I think of those cupcakes. Mikel will never let me forget about them. And I have a bottle of rosewater in the refrigerator that I don't want to dump out because the smell will make me sick.

Always look for something positive: The frosting was excellent, and this will make for a funny story even years from now. I can hear Mikel already. "Remember those nasty cupcakes you made me try?" Oh, yeah. Good times.