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CPA: Certified Pastry Aficionado

Pistachio Ice Cream

ice cream· National Ice Cream Month
July 4, 2022

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Pistachio Ice Cream – Real pistachios are ground and mixed into an ice cream base to make a nutty, creamy treat that will satisfy all taste buds

two sugar cones filled with pistachio ice cream sitting upright in a cone

Happy 4th of July! And also happy beginning of National Ice Cream Month! July marks a whole month of frozen treats here at CPA. Today we begin with one of my favorite ice cream flavors of all time. That’s right – we’re starting off big!

Today’s recipe is for Pistachio Ice Cream. So simple but incredibly flavorful. I love pistachio ice cream so much because of the simple nutty flavor. It’s more mild than peanuts but a little more complex than almonds – although they are quite similar.

And if you think it takes a lot of effort to make this ice cream, prepared to be amazed! It comes together in just a few simple steps. But you will need an ice cream machine. This is the one I’ve been using for years. It does the job right.

Without further ado, here is my Pistachio Ice Cream!

close up of pistachio ice cream in a sugar cone
overhead shot of pistachio ice cream in a cone
two cones filled with pistachio ice cream standing upright in a glass

Making the ice cream base

This ice cream base is made with egg yolks to thicken it up while ensuring the ice cream remains creamy when it freezes. But first, the base needs to cook to pasteurize the base and get it slightly thick.

To do this, the milk, half the cream, pistachios, sugar, and salt are added to a 3-quart sauce pan and heated over medium until it’s steaming. It’s removed from heat and left to sit for 1 hour to steep the pistachio flavor into the mixture.

After 1 hour, the mixture is reheated and then strained to remove large chunks of pistachios. It is then slowly added to a bowl with the egg yolks. This will slowly heat up the yolks before we place them over direct heat. The mixture is then transferred back to the saucepan and heated slowly over medium heat until it reached 170 degrees.

The mixture finished by adding the last cup of heavy cream and the almond extract and stirred together until it cools down. It’s covered and then chilled in the refrigerator until super cold, about 4-6 hours.

Freezing the ice cream

Once the ice cream is chilled, it’s time to freeze the ice cream base. To do this, follow the instructions on your ice cream machine. It will probably take about 15 minutes to freeze the base so that it’s firm, yet creamy. Once it reaches that consistency, it is transferred to a storage container and chilled until firm, about 8 hours.

overhead shot of pistachio ice cream in a sugar cone

Tips & Tricks

  1. Grind pistachios. Before using the pistachios in this recipe, grind them up in a food processor until a paste forms.
  2. Use a thermometer. To ensure the ice cream base doesn’t cook too long, use a thermometer to monitor the temp. It should only cook to 170 degrees.
  3. Temper the yolks. Before adding the yolks to the hot milk, they need to be tempered to ensure they don’t scramble. To do this, slowly add the hot milk to the whisked egg yolks. Then, you can add them back to the saucepan and over medium heat.
  4. Chill ice cream base. Before the ice cream base is added to the ice cream machine, it must be chilled. Otherwise, the ice cream will form large ice crystals during the process – or even worse, it won’t even freeze.
Print Recipe

Pistachio Ice Cream

Prep Time30 mins
Resting time:8 hrs 30 mins
Total Time9 hrs
Servings: 1 quart

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk whole
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup pistachios finely ground to a paste
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

  • Place milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar, salt, and ground pistachios in a medium sauce pan. Heat until the mixture is steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat and cover for 1 hour to let the pistachios steep in the milk.
  • Once mixture has steeped for 1 hour, place saucepan back over heat so it's steaming again. Remove from heat. Whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Very slowly whisk in warm milk. Transfer mixture back to saucepan and set over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture begins to thicken and is between 168-170 degrees. Mixture should coat the back of the spatula. Remove from heat immediately so the mixture doesn't scramble.
  • Place remaining heavy cream in a large bowl and place strainer over bowl. Pour thickened yolk mixture through strainer to remove lumps and large chunks of pistachios. Stir with cream and almond extract to cool the mixture down.
  • Chill mixture in the refrigerator until completely cold, about 4-6 hours. Once chilled, ice cream base is ready for your machine. Freeze ice cream according to machine instructions. Transfer to storage container and freeze until firm, about 6-8 hours.

Notes

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz

Pin for later:

collage of pistachio ice cream in a sugar cone

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19 Comments

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Raspberry Jelly Doughnut Ice Cream »

Comments

  1. Amy Liu Dong says

    July 11, 2022 at 12:51 am

    Oh my goodness! I love pistachio ice cream, and I am so excited to make this for myself today. Yum!

    Reply
  2. ramona says

    July 10, 2022 at 4:53 pm

    I love pistachio ice cream so much and its even better when it is homemade! I love how pretty this looks as well. Thank you for sharing this recipe, I cant wait to give it a go!

    Reply
  3. Katie Crenshaw says

    July 10, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    Love this pistachio ice cream! The nutty sweet flavors were delicious in the cream. It is so much better homemade.

    Reply
  4. Jessica says

    July 10, 2022 at 2:24 pm

    This ice cream turned out perfect. I really appreciate your thorough, easy to follow directions. I served it in a bowl with homemade caramel sauce and it was AMAZING!!

    Reply
  5. Michelle says

    July 10, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    Yes! I love that I can make my favorite ice cream at home now!

    Reply
  6. Mikayla says

    July 9, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    I was so excited to see this recipe, It made me think of my great grandpa who LOVED pistachio ice cream. Now my kiddo loves it just as much!

    Reply
  7. Lauren Michael Harris says

    July 8, 2022 at 11:26 am

    I love pistachios, but this was my first time making pistachio ice cream. Now I am HOOKED! I will be making this on repeat all summer!

    Reply
  8. Claire says

    July 8, 2022 at 9:31 am

    Pistachio is my sons favorite flavor of ice cream. So I made this for his birthday yesterday. He said it was the best ice cream he had ever had! And I was so pleased how easy it was to make at home!

    Reply
  9. Erin says

    July 8, 2022 at 8:51 am

    This ice cream was amazing! I’d never had pistachio ice cream but my kid had been asking for it, so I gave your recipe a try. He was very happy, thanks!

    Reply
  10. Nancy says

    July 7, 2022 at 9:48 pm

    Anything pistachio! This was always my favorite ice cream flavor and so happy now I can make this at home. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  11. df says

    July 5, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Are the pistachios used in this recipe unroasted, unsalted, roasted or ? Recipe has the classic ice cream base. Excited to try this.

    Reply
  12. Tisha says

    July 5, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    This ice cream look absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to try it

    Reply
  13. Dannii says

    July 5, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    This was amazing and it reminded me of the pistachio ice cream we had in Rome. I will definitely be making this again.

    Reply
  14. Mirlene says

    July 5, 2022 at 12:14 pm

    I used to get pistachio ice cream when I was a kid. You brought memories back! Now I’m looking forward to making this myself!

    Reply
  15. Mairead says

    July 5, 2022 at 11:43 am

    Summer means ice cream in my book and pistachio ice cream is now my favorite summer flavor of all. Thanks for all the detailed instructions for making this delicious treat.

    Reply
  16. Tavo says

    July 5, 2022 at 11:30 am

    This pistachio ice cream was just like the one I used to have in my beloved childhood ice cream shop! Thank you!

    Reply
  17. Mimi says

    July 5, 2022 at 3:10 am

    My favourite flavour, I’ve never tried to make it myself but it looks delicius

    Reply
  18. Amber Myers says

    July 4, 2022 at 8:49 pm

    Oh my gosh, yum. I know I’d love this. We’re huge ice cream fans!

    Reply
  19. Gloria says

    July 4, 2022 at 10:46 am

    Homemade ice cream is the best. I love pistachios. I know this will be a hit for the summer.

    Reply

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