Today we’re diving into the trending ingredient, the pistachio, with a recipe that everyone falls in love with when they try it: if you want to know how to make creamy homemade pistachio ice cream, you need to read this post and try the recipe: you’ll make the best pistachio ice cream you can imagine.
This homemade ice cream recipe is easy, plus we use natural ingredients. As soon as you taste it, you’ll see I’m not exaggerating one bit about how delicious it is, and you’ll keep making it until you run out of pistachios in your favourite shop.
This homemade pistachio ice cream is a creamy delight that will win you over. Its flavour is wonderful, and since you make it yourself with your home ice cream maker, you’ll know exactly what’s in it. You’ll see that making homemade ice cream with natural ingredients is very easy, that it turns out as creamy as your favourite ice cream parlour’s, and that the result is nothing like a commercial ice cream. Claudia’s word!
We’re making this pistachio ice cream with a compressor ice cream maker, such as the Expert Magimix ice cream maker, but you can use any machine, with or without compressor. In the latter case, just plan ahead a little and place the bowl in the freezer 24 hours beforehand so it’s cold enough, and you can have your homemade creamy pistachio ice cream ready in no time. I hope you enjoy it – I loved it!
Ingredients
- 500 ml whole milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 50 g shelled pistachios
- 125 g sugar
- 1/2 tsp agar-agar
- Vanilla paste or the seeds of one vanilla pod
- 30 g shelled pistachios
Method
- Put the 50 g of shelled pistachios into a mortar and crush into a paste. Alternatively, you can buy ready-made paste, but make sure it’s pure pistachio paste without sugar.
- Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- In a bowl, whisk the 6 egg yolks with 125 g sugar until pale. Add the agar-agar and vanilla paste (or seeds) and stir well.
- When the milk boils, pour it into the bowl and whisk until fully incorporated. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, until it reaches 83–85 °C.
- Once it reaches temperature, strain through a fine sieve into an airtight container and add the pistachio paste. Stir well or use a hand blender to homogenise. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2–3 hours.
- After 2–3 hours, remove from the fridge and whisk again.
- Switch on your Expert Magimix ice cream maker, press the Artisan Ice Cream mode and pour in the mixture once the paddle starts turning.
- A few minutes before the ice cream is ready, add the shelled pistachios to fold them in.
- Serve immediately in your favourite ice cream cup, or freeze for later enjoyment.
Tips
- In step 1 we didn’t mention using a food processor for the pistachios because the small quantity would take longer, heat the nuts and make them bitter. But if you’re blending a larger amount, feel free to use a chopper or food processor.
- If you don’t like “bits” in your ice cream, skip the pistachios. Or if you love them, add more – it’s entirely up to you!
- Prefer caramelised pistachios? Here’s how:
- Heat 30 g sugar in a pan until melted and caramelised.
- Add 30 g pistachios and a pinch of salt, stir well, and spread onto a silicone mat or baking paper. Separate slightly with a spatula and let cool completely.
- Once cooled, place the caramelised pistachios in the small bowl of your Magimix food processor and pulse. They should be in noticeable chunks, not too fine. Ready to add to your ice cream!
