Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream

I have never had pistachio ice cream. Or a pistachio muffin. Or any other neon green food claiming to be pistachio flavored. The first time I tried a pistachio was in 8th grade. I was on vacation with a friend and her family. I had braces on. Now I wasn’t a very good braces-wearer. I broken brackets off all the time.

My orthodontist was always on my case about it. I had learned how to eat almonds without breaking off brackets, so I figured I could handle a pistachio. I figured wrong. I only ate one pistachio, and I wasn’t overly impressed. Plus I got another lecture at my next orthodontist appointment, so all around pistachios just aren’t my thing…

Hubby on the other hand, loves all things pistachio. They’re one of his favorite nuts to snack on. He loves them so much that every for Christmas, his mom still gives him a 5 lb bag of pistachios. She’s been doing that since he was a boy.

So when I told him I was making some pistachio ice cream, he got really excited. See, I just recently ordered Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, and after browsing through all the recipes (and flagging most of them), I decided on this roasted pistachio ice cream to be the first recipe to try. Not sure what the motivation was, but I’m glad I went with it.

One thing you’ll notice is that it’s not bright green. The pistachios turned a darker brown through the roasting process. I opted to add chunks of roasted pistachios in the ice cream as well to give it some texture.

Having never tasted pistachio ice cream, I can’t really comment on how it compares. What I can tell you is that this ice cream is like a salty peanut buttery ice cream (if your peanut butter was made with roasted pistachios). You guys know I love all things salty and sweet and this stuff definitely hits the mark. Based on the success of this recipe, I can gaurantee you’ll be seeing more of Jeni’s recipes on my blog this summer.

One Year Ago: Balsamic Basil Strawberry Shortcake
Two Years Ago: Golden Snitch Cake Pops and Butterbeer Recipe
Three Years Ago: French Silk Pie
Four Years Ago: Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream

Yield: ~1 Quart

Ingredients:

1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, divided in half
2 cups whole milk - I used coconut milk
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 oz (3 Tbsp) cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream - I used coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spread pistacios onto a small baking sheet and toast in oven for 10-12 minutes, until fragrant and starting to turn brown. Remove from oven.

Roughly chop 1/2 cup roasted pistachios and reserve for mixing in later. Place the other 1/2 cup in a food processor and process until you get a smooth paste.

In a small bowl, make a slurry with 2 Tbsp of milk and the cornstarch. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese, pistachio paste, and salt.

Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-qt saucepan. Bring to boil over med-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in slurry.

Bring mixture back to a boil over med-high heat and cook until slightly thickened (~1 minute). Remove from heat.

Whisk the hot milk mixture in to the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight, until completely cool.

Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Add the almond extract after adding the ice cream to the ice cream maker.

Layer the ice cream with chopped pistachios in a storage container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Recipe from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home