The BEST Pistachio Ice Cream
My husband’s favorite ice cream flavor in the whole world is pistachio. For Roger’s last birthday (in January), he requested that I try making pistachio ice cream for him rather than a cake.
Last summer, we had discovered that an ice cream store in Sandwich called Sweet Caroline’s on Cape Cod made the best pistachio ice cream we had ever tasted. As many stores and restaurants do on the Cape, they were closed for the winter and wouldn’t open again until May. So, Roger was going to have to wait a while for his beloved pistachio ice cream unless I made him some. The only question was whether or not I could find a recipe that rivaled Sweet Caroline’s. I’m always up for a challenge, so I started researching recipes.
I ended up making both a pistachio gelato and a pistachio ice cream for his birthday—a labor of love for a special hubby.
We both thought that the gelato and ice cream were very good but not quite as good as Sweet Caroline’s. That was going to be it for us until the store opened up again in the spring.
May rolled around, and Roger drove by the store only to see a sign saying that it was under new management. It just so happened that the new owner was Smitty’s which is a local ice cream store very close to our home. Now, Smitty’s makes great ice cream; but his pistachio ice cream isn’t as good as Sweet Caroline’s. Roger asked the people there if Smitty’s had obtained Sweet Caroline’s recipe for pistachio. Nope. He was sooo disappointed!
So, back to the drawing board for me. As luck would have it, the third recipe I tried was the charm. This pistachio ice cream is quite frantastic—mmm, mmm good! It is absolutely every bit as good as Sweet Caroline’s, and we don’t have to wait all winter or drive for 30 minutes to get some!
Since today is National Ice Cream Day, I thought I’d share. Enjoy…
The BEST Pistachio Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw unsalted pistachios
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1 or 2 drops of green food coloring, optional (I didn’t use)
Directions
As always, make sure the tub to your ice cream machine has been in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
In a food processor, combine the pistachios and sugar and process until finely ground, about 45 seconds. Set aside.
In a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat the cream, milk, salt, and ground pistachio mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is warm and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
Gradually whisk in about a cup of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into a saucepan with the rest of the warm cream.
Cook over medium heat, gently stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, coats the back of a spoon, and a thermometer inserted registers 170° F, about 5 minutes.
Pour through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to strain out as much liquid as possible from the pistachios. Discard the remaining solids in the sieve.
Stir the vanilla and almond extract into the cream base (and the green food coloring if using).
Cool, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Pour the chilled pistachio ice cream base into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Spoon the churned ice cream into a freezer-safe 1-quart container. If desired, stir in additional chopped pistachios. I stirred in some roasted pistachios rather than the raw pistachios.
Cover and freeze until firm, 4 to 6 hours.
Notes
I’m not a big fan of food coloring, so I did not add any to my ice cream. Without the food coloring, the ice cream color looks just like ground pistachios. One or two drops of green food coloring will turn the ice cream a light shade of green which is typically what people are used to seeing in pistachio ice cream.
Source: A recipe from Preppy Kitchen