Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream Recipe
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Difficulty: Medium |
Total Time:
40 mins, plus chilling and freezing time
|
Active Time:
|
Makes:
4 cups
Pistachio ice cream recipes often suffer from insipid flavor or are loaded with artificial stuff to mimic the taste of pistachio. In our pursuit of true pistachio flavor, we cranked up the amount of nuts. The result: a roasted pistachio–flavored ice cream that will excite the most diffident of ice cream eaters.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, toasted and cooled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine pistachios, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and process until pistachios are finely ground (make sure they don’t become butter), about 15 seconds.
- Combine half-and-half, milk, and pistachio mixture in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat (should take about 12 to 15 minutes). Prepare an ice water bath by filling a bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside.
- Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and almond extract in a large bowl until smooth, foamy, and light in color, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.
- Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard coats the spoon, about 3 minutes. (When you draw your finger across the spoon, it should make a mark through the custard, which should not run back in on itself.)
- Pour the custard into a large clean bowl and place over the ice bath to chill, about 15 minutes. Once the ice cream base is lukewarm, cover and place in the refrigerator to chill completely, at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours.
- Once the base is thoroughly chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 1 week.
I got a 4 quart maker at "W" for 10 dollars a few years ago! Note: buy it in the fall for next season! I made a wonderful coconut ice cream last weekend! Next VDB wants strawberry rhubarb!
Why roasting the pistachios, it removes gthe clor.
Made this for my fathers 80th birthday party. He's a HUGE pistachio ice cream fan. Followed the recipe exactly. What a diisappointment. I should have tought it out when reading. If you like oodles and ooldles of iiny pieces of pistashio grains then follow the directions. Next time I would NOT process the nuts in a food processor. Not any. The best pistashio ice cream has large whole nuts, found like treasure in a creamy, dreamy ice cream. The texture of this was really wrong. Every bite seeming sandy because of the ground pistashios. It was also a bit sweet for my taste. I would like to give it another try but back off on some of the sugar and nuts.
As for the almond., the flavor of the ice cream was wonderful. I do think a good quality almond extract fits perfectly in this recipe. If you want it less pronounced put 1/2 vanilla & 1/2 almond. I don't need to tell Chow hounds pure extract is the only way to go - no imitation.
Neat!
I can't have a lot of dairy so will try with rice milk and non dairy something (cool whip?).
Also roasted pistachio oil would add a lot of smoothness to it.
I saw some very nice roasted nut oils from La Tourangelle,they are yummy on anything.
Rosewater extract instead of almond would be wonderful here.
Almond paste instead of granulated sugar would also sub nicely.
Re: almond extract . . .I believe pistachio ice cream is generally flavored with almond extract. I once found a bottle of pistachio extract (artificially flavored), but every pistachio ice cream recipe I've ever seen calls for almond extract. Maybe--ironically--the pistachios themselves don't give off enough of their flavor and need to be upped by the almond, and that's what we're used to in pistachio ice cream? Just an idea.
I was gonna make a pistachio ice cream a while back, but the shop had hazelnuts on offer so I used them instead.
I didn't use almond extract because I always make a vanilla ice cream as my base ice cream.
@Asherallen - I freeze my ice creams in a metal bowl for around an hour and then whisk them up with an electric beater, and then repeat this twice more. After the 3rd whisking I put the ice cream into the container I'm gonna store it in.
Is there a way to get a good rich real pistacio flavor without using almond extract (which doesn't taste like pistacios to me at all)?
I agree with Venera, cutting back by 1/2 on the almond extract (which doesn't clash with pistachio, but only amplifies the flavor) reducing the ground roasted nuts and adding whole nuts would only help this recipe.
Reducing the yolks to 3 would also help cut the excessive fattiness. I used less yolks to begin with and still though this recipe was TOO rich and cloyingly sweet. And I like rich & sweet.
Lemon usually lightens/brightens, maybe just a pinch of zest would help this heavweight and not hurt the nuttiness.
And BTW, Asher-get a clue, & an ice cream maker/churner! Where's the Twilight Zone music when you need it? But seriously, if you use the easily available coupon, Linens & Things has a fantastic Cusinart ice cream maker for $35.00!
This recipe sound wonderful, but I need some clarification. What do you mean by freezing in an ice cream maker? I have a freezer. Are you talking about a churning ice cream maker to churn ice cream. Do I need one of those.
Thanks,
Asher
I haven't made this yet, but I think Vanilla would be a better flavoring than almond. Didn't the almond clash with the pistachio? They are both such dominant flavors.
Oh my. So rich! So delicious!
I didn't have whole milk, so I upped the half'n'half / skim milk ratio to 2:1.
I also pureed the 1 cup of pistachios, then added in another cup of pistachios whole, for texture. It was a little too nutty, I would scale this back to a 1/2 cup next time.
I really did like it, but felt like there was a layer that was missing. Something that would add contrast or complexity. Maybe a grating of lemon rind? It needed something light and clean to help balance the richness. Maybe I should ease up on the almond extract next time. I felt like it overpowered the pistachio essense somewhat.