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
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m like you and totally try out recipes based on photos! I think goat cheese and fruit are always a perfect combo. The goat cheesecake sounds intriguing!
Looks and sounds amazing! I’m totally with you about photos of food – they are typically what tempt me to make a recipe.
This cake looks DELICIOUS!
I’d never heard of using goat cheese in a cheesecake, but I’m intrigued.
I, too, much prefer pictures. Sometimes you just don’t put the ingredients together in your head the right way and it comes out looking totally different than you expected. I also flip through the book faster and I tend to not find recipes unless there are pics!
i think trying something new without any idea what it should look like it rough. i love pictures but most cookbooks dont seem to have enough. i think thats why i love this blog so much, you take TONS! 🙂
i am very intrigued by this recipe. but i dont eat blueberries or peaches. is it good by itself? or is the fruit greatly needed??
Beeb – It’s similar to any other cheesecake. It was good on it’s own, but the fruit really enhanced the flavor. Are there other fruits you like that you could top it with? Strawberries and blueberries would be great!
Oh yum! I totally want to try this. I love goat cheese (and fruit) and bet this would make an amazing cake!
I like photos too, but sometimes I get a little too into them. Like the other night when I forgot to add raisins to my cinnamon raisin bread because they weren’t in the photo 🙂
Sues
I definitely prefer recipes with pictures but if a description is really good (or intriguing) or if an author points it out as a favorite… or lastly if it’s a source I trust, I go for it. With that said, I’m glad you made it and posted pictures. This cake looks (and sounds) absolutely fantastic!!!
This looks really good. I agree that sometimes I eat with my eyes. I love photos, but not the ones that look almost fake since they are so perfect. That’s why I love food blogs – usually it is just the food as it will be served.
I cook from a lot of different sources, and will try recipes that are appealing without any pics either. Sometimes it is more difficult when I am completely unfamiliar with the dish, though.
Photos! I love yours…the “cake” looks so pretty with it’s white lip and fruit piled high.
~ingrid
Sounds wonderful. I can see how it would be more of a “cheesecake” than a “cheese cake” because there’s such a small amount of flour. As we move into fall, I bet it would be delicious with a topping of figs sauteed with honey… mmm… honey figs and goat cheese!
LOVE goat cheese cheesecake 🙂 peaches and blueberries seem like another good topper (i recently made one with figs and raspberries!)
i really have to bake that cake for my boyfriend who has a milk intolerance. thank you for posting this many recipes with goat cheese 🙂
best wishes, jay, my blog: artandloveandme.blogspot.com