I recently bought an ice cream maker and am now obsessed with making homemade ice cream. Whether this is a good thing or a bad one depends on whether I’m looking at my scale or enjoying the ice cream, but either way I’m having a lot of fun trying out new recipes.
Pistachio ice cream is one of my favorites, but one thing I don’t like about nuts in ice cream is how soft they become. I had an idea of how to fix this, and I like the results. If you can, use organic eggs and dairy. I’ve made ice cream both ways but the organic tastes richer and creamier.
Base:
1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup toasted unsalted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Addition:
1/2 to 3 /4 cup whole toasted unsalted shelled pistachios
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp brown sugar
Sprinkle of sea salt (about 1/8 tsp should do)
Heat milk and cream in a heavy saucepan, bringing to a low simmer. Place nuts in cheesecloth, making a loose bundle. Add to milk and cream mixture and simmer for 30 minutes. You don’t have to do the cheesecloth step, but if you do, you shouldn’t have to strain the mixture so you don’t have small bits of pistachios in the custard.
In a bowl, whisk eggs until deep yellow and frothy, about one minute. Add sugar and whisk until fully blended. You can do this with an electric blender or a whisk. It’s so easy I use a whisk so there’s less clean up.
When milk, cream, and pistachio have been simmering for half an hour, remove pistachios from the hot base. (If you didn’t use cheesecloth, strain the mixture into a bowl with a fine mesh sieve.) Add one cup of the liquid to the egg and sugar mixture and whip thoroughly. Add the rest of the liquid from the saucepan into the bowl; stir in vanilla and almond extracts making sure the ingredients are well mixed. Place in the refrigerator until completely chilled.
