These fig olive oil cupcakes have a pistachio and olive oil cupcake base filled with fig jam, then topped with honey mascarpone frosting, fresh figs, and rosemary for a light, floral cupcake! The flavor combo is honestly insane! [So good I also made a fig mascarpone tart with pistachio crust!]
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Why You'll Love These Fig Cupcakes
- Honey mascarpone frosting - The light, creamy flavor of mascarpone cheese pairs beautifully with the olive oil cupcakes and figs!
- Moist olive oil cupcake base - These olive oil cupcakes are super light, tender, and full of flavor thanks to the olive oil and pistachio flour!
- Rosemary infused sugar - Massaging fresh rosemary into the sugar helps release the oils and adds extra herbaceous flavor to the cupcakes.
- Super easy to decorate - All you need to make these cupcakes beautiful is fresh figs, a sprig of rosemary, and a drizzle of honey!
You might also like these blackberry lavender cupcakes or fig and goat cheese crostini!
Ingredient Notes
You do need quite a few ingredients for these fig olive oil cupcakes, but it's worth it for the flavor!
Fresh Figs - Depending on your grocery store/location, you can find figs all year! Some varieties are available in the spring/summer and others in the fall!
Fig jam - You can usually find fig jam in the cheese section at most grocery stores, Dalmatia is my favorite!
Olive Oil - You want to use good, high quality extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor! Something with floral, fruity notes is delicious in these cupcakes!
Cake flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Pistachios - I like to add finely ground pistachios to the cake batter for more flavor and a tender texture. Dry roasted, unsalted pistachios work best! However, you could substitute almond flour or just leave out the pistachios all together.
Yogurt - The yogurt keeps the cupcakes super moist while also adding a bit of tang! You always want to use full fat yogurt in baking for the best results! You could also use full fat sour cream or whole milk!
Mascarpone cheese - Mascarpone is an Italian cheese that's very similar to American cream cheese. It's smooth and soft but more neutral in flavor compared to tangy cream cheese. And in my opinion, that mild flavor makes it much more versatile! But you can also just substitute cream cheese if that's all you can find!
Rosemary - Fresh rosemary infused sugar adds just the right amount of light, floral flavor to the cupcakes! You could also use fresh thyme.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Olive Oil Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcake liners
Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until you have about ½ cup of finely ground pistachio flour.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, pistachio flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Finely chop the fresh rosemary and add to the granulated sugar. Then use your fingers to gently massage the rosemary into the sugar. [This is optional, but helps infuse the oils into the sugar.]
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, eggs, and vanilla. Then whisk in the rosemary sugar until smooth.
Gently mix in half the dry ingredients. Then add in the yogurt and the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter will be thin.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
Let the olive oil cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then fill with 1-2 teaspoons of fig jam.
Frost the filled cupcakes with honey mascarpone frosting and then drizzle honey and extra crushed pistachios. Then top with fresh figs and sprigs of rosemary.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
Use a cupcake corer to easily remove the center of your cupcakes before filling with fig jam.
For these big beautiful mascarpone frosting swirls on these fig olive oil cupcakes, I use the 9FT tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
Garnish the cupcakes with fresh figs and rosemary and then a drizzle of honey and crushed pistachios!
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they taste best when served at room temperature! I like to let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. Wait to top with fresh figs and rosemary until immediately before serving.
No! You can directly substitute almond flour, or just leave out the pistachios and replace with ¼ cup cake flour.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Fig Olive Oil Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Pistachio Flour
- 1 cup pistachios, dry roasted unsalted
Olive Oil Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cup cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- ½ cup pistachio flour, substitute ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain full-fat yogurt
Honey Mascarpone Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Garnish
- ½ cup fig jam
- fresh figs
- fresh rosemary
- honey
- pistachios
Instructions
Pistachio Flour
- Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until you have about ½ cup of finely ground pistachio flour.
Olive Oil Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcake liners
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ cup pistachio flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Finely chop the fresh rosemary and add to the granulated sugar. Then use your fingers to gently massage the rosemary into the sugar.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, eggs, and vanilla. Then whisk in the rosemary sugar until smooth.
- Gently mix in half the dry ingredients. Then add in the yogurt and the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter will be thin.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
- Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
- Let the olive oil cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then fill with 1-2 teaspoons of fig jam.
Honey Mascarpone Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and mascarpone cheese until completely smooth.
- Then add in the powdered sugar and beat on slow until combined.
- Add in the honey and salt, then beat the frosting for 3-4 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Frost the filled cupcakes with honey mascarpone frosting and then drizzle honey and extra crushed pistachios. Then top with fresh figs and sprigs of rosemary.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Dina says
Can you reduce the amount of powdered sugar in the frosting without compromising texture? I prefer frosting to not be overly sweet and I'm worried 4 cups of powdered sugar + drizzle of honey will be way too sweet.
Kyleigh Sage says
The mascarpone does make it less sweet than a traditional buttercream! But you should be able to get away with 3 cups instead. You can add in a little at a time and stop once it gets to a firm, pipable texture. It just might not stay as stable for a long time. So if you’ll eat them pretty soon, it should be fine!
Rebecca Espinosa says
I’ve made this twice now because it’s just that good! I brought it to book club this time and there was practically a fight in who got the leftovers.
I did cut back on the rosemary and only did half this time. I felt like it allowed more of the pistachio to come through and would definitely recommend if you’re hesitant about adding it.