Pistachio Blunders

I put two recipes together to make what I thought was going to be a spectacular pistachio blueberry cupcake with a crumb topping instead of frosting. I should have taken more pictures along the way, but got caught up in the many steps of this endeavor.

I started off with a recipe I found in Food Network Magazine for a pistachio tea cake made with finely pulsed pistachios. Instead of topping each cupcake with a cherry like the recipe said, I decided to top them with fresh blueberries and a pistachio crumble that goes on top of a coffee cake. I found this second recipe in a cookbook that Costco was giving out for free one day. I've made the original coffee cake recipe before and it is fantastic.

Here's the the crumb topping recipe:
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp butter, melted

While my hopes were high for this cupcake, I was brought low fast. The original pistachio cake recipe instructed me to bake the cupcakes for 8 minutes and then add the cherries. I'm guessing so they wouldn't sink to the bottom of the cakes. I followed that direction and pulled out the cakes at 8 minutes to add my blueberries and crumb topping. I baked them another 12 minutes just like the recipe said.

The original recipe for the crumb topped coffee cake baked for an hour. My crumb topping was no where near crusty enough. Also, the cupcakes that should have been done were still all gooey. This is what I get for combining two pretty different recipes.

After lamenting for a while, I put the cupcakes back in the oven hoping they would cook through and the crumble would brown a little more. It all worked out in the end.

I was hoping for some authentic pistachio flavor out of these. I mostly tasted coconut and blueberry. The next time I'm craving pistachio flavor I might try a pistachio pudding cupcake recipe.