Rose Pistachio Doughnuts Are Steeped in Middle Eastern Tradition

Rose and pistachio are an underrated power couple (at least in American cooking) that might possibly be better than the classic peanut butter and jelly combo. Yup, I said it. Fight me. One bite of these rose pistachio doughnuts and you’ll understand exactly why I feel that way. To prove my point, I pulverized fresh, shelled pistachios are pulverized into a flour and worked into the batter with cardamom and rosewater. Once they cooled, I coated the baked cake doughnuts in a subtly sweet, baker-miller-pink rose glaze and dusted it with ground pistachios and fresh rose petals. Now you’re getting it.The inspiration for these pistachio rose doughnuts comes from my Middle Eastern background, specifically Syrian and Lebanese. Persians, Indians, and Middle Easterners are known for cooking with rose and rosewater, which you might only associate with Turkish Delight and that’s OK. The starchy sweet, also known as lokum, usually accompanies coffee. Although I love it and respect it, I prefer to have my coffee with doughnuts. You, too, can add the sweet scent of rose to your morning with this baked doughnut recipe.Some of the ingredients might sound foreign to you if you’re not used to Middle Eastern food, but I promise they’re not hard to find. Rosewater and cardamom powder are sold at specialty markets, and sometimes available at nationwide grocery stores like Whole Foods. Look for fresh edible rose petals at your local farmer’s market, or order them online with overnight shipping from Gourmet Sweet Botanicals or Marx Foods. But do not pass over this recipe if you don’t have fresh rose petals on hand. The rose flavor mostly comes from rosewater; the petals are just a drop dead gorgeous garnish, so you could live without it.Make a big batch of these delicately floral and nutty baked doughnuts and share them with your loved ones over homemade Turkish coffee. Rose Pistachio DoughnutsIngredientsP.S. These cake doughnuts taste much, much better a day later once the icing has seeped into the dough.P.S.S. If you leave the doughnuts out to sit overnight, the rose petals will dry out and look even prettier than before.