This pistachio ice cream recipe produces extremely smooth and creamy ice cream with an intense roasted pistachio flavour. The recipe will be split into three sections: SECTION 1: The Science of Ice Cream Making and Preparation Tips; SECTION 2: Full Recipe; and SECTION 3: Quick-Read Recipe.
Please click here to read SECTION 1: The Science of Ice Cream Making and Preparation Tips. I strongly recommend starting with this section.
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SECTION 2: FULL RECIPE
PREP TIME:
About 10 minutes
HEATING TIME:
About 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
Cream
Full-fat, semi-skimmed, or skimmed Milk
Unrefined sugar
Skimmed milk powder
Egg yolks
110g fine unsalted roasted pistachio paste
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Produces about 900 ml (0.95 quarts) of ice cream mix and pistachio paste.
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF MILK FAT
Milk fat contributes significantly to the rich, full, and creamy flavour and to the smooth texture of ice cream (Goff & Hartel, 2013). Not enough milk fat is likely to produce ice cream that is coarse or sandy, whereas too much will likely result in a heavy buttery texture. Above is the spreadsheet I use to calculate my mixes and I’ve included it for you guys to accurately calculate the quantities of milk and cream that you’ll need. It’s based on the mix formulation calculations in Ice Cream (7th ed) (2013) by Goff & Hartel, which I highly recommend reading.
It’s important that you check the fat content percentage of the milk and cream that you’ll be using. Here in the U.K, our double cream and skimmed milk contain between 47.5% and 50.5% and less than 0.5% of milk fat respectively. You can use full-fat, semi-skimmed, or skimmed milk.
To start, enter the fat percentage of your cream in the yellow Cream Fat % cell located on the top left of the spreadsheet. Do the same for the milk fat percentage in the yellow Milk Fat (%) cell. PRESS ENTER, OR CLICK ON A DIFFERENT CELL, FOR THE SPREADSHEET TO UPDATE. The spreadsheet will then display the quantities of milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and skimmed milk powder needed (in grams) in the cells in blue.
2. PREPARING AN ICE BATH
Before you start preparing your mix, take a large bowl and fill it with enough ice to make an ice bath. Have a large zip-lock freezer bag ready next to the bowl, along with some table salt. We’ll be using the zip lock bag and ice bath to ensure that the mix is cooled as quickly as possible after heating. This minimises the time the mix spends in the ‘danger zone’, between 5°C (41°F) and 65°C (149°F), where bacteria likes to multiply. The longer your mix spends in this temperature range, the more bacteria is likely to multiply and impart an undesirable taste and smell.
3. HEATING THE MIX
Weigh your pan and record its weight. We’ll use this weight to check whether we’ve achieved the desired 15% reduction after 25 minutes of heating.
Once you’ve prepared the ice bath and weighed your pan, add the sugar and skimmed milk powder followed by the egg yolks. Mix the yolks, sugar and skimmed milk powder to help prevent the yolks from curdling during heating.
Add the cream, milk, and sea salt and spend a good minute or so mixing all the ingredients before you switch on the heat.
Over a medium heat, heat the mixture until the temperature reaches 71°C (160°F), making sure that you’re constantly stirring. You’ll risk burning the milk proteins and curdling the egg yolks if you don’t constantly stir the mix. It takes me 10 minutes to get my mix up to 71°C (160°F).
Once the temperature reaches 71°C (160°F), turn the heat down to low, move your pan slightly off the heat, and continue heating and stirring until the temperature reaches 72°C (162°F). Use a food thermometer to keep your mix at 72°C (162°F) for 25 minutes, adjusting the position of your pan to help regulate the temperature. Don’t worry if you go slightly over 72°C (162°F); just try and keep the temperature as close to 72°C (162°F) as you can.
4. COOLING THE MIX
After 25 minutes of heating at 72°C (162°F), take the pan off the heat and weigh it. If the weight is greater than 850g plus the weight of the pan, place it back on the heat and continue heating for another 2-3 minutes or until you get the weight down to 850g.
Carefully pour the mix into the zip-lock bag and seal. Place the sealed bag in the ice bath and pour about a tablespoon of salt onto the ice to lower the temperature and cool the mix faster.
Once the mix has cooled to below 5°C (41°F), place the zip-lock bag in the fridge and leave overnight to age.
5. CHURNING THE MIX
Once you’ve aged your mix overnight, carefully pour the mix into your machine followed by the roasted pistachio paste.
TIP#1 – FREEZER BOWL WALL TEMPERATURE
If you’re using an ice cream machine with an in-built compressor, with the bowl in the machine, switch on the compressor and leave it running for 15 minutes before adding the mix. This will ensure that the freezer bowl is as cold as possible when the mix is added, which increases the rate of nucleation and reduces residence time.
TIP#2 – EFFICIENT HEAT TRANSFER
If you’re using the Cuisinart ICE 30BC, use your thumb to push the dasher against the side of the bowl as soon as you pour in the mix. This will ensure that the dasher scrapes off the layer of ice that freezes to the side of the bowl. Any ice that is frozen to the side of the bowl will act as an insulator, slowing the release of heat from the ice cream to the bowl and increasing the residence time. Goff & Hartel (2013) note that even a very thin layer of ice remaining on the bowl wall can cause a dramatic reduction in heat transfer.
Use a spoon to push along any static lumps of ice cream and ensure that the mix is constantly moving whilst in the machine. Static lumps will likely take longer to freeze, resulting in greater ice crystal growth.
6. DRAW TEMPERATURE
Your ice cream will be ready when it develops a nice dry, stiff texture, and starts forming ribbon-like swirls. It should have a draw temperature (the temperature at which the partially frozen ice cream is removed from the machine) of between -9°C and -12°C (15.8°F and 10.4°F) with a lower draw temperature usually resulting in smaller ice crystals (Arbuckle, 1986).
Below are the residence times and draw temperatures for the domestic machines I’ve tried:
- Lello Musso Pola 5030 Dessert Maker: 900 ml (0.95 quarts) mix – 13 minutes, -11°C (12.2°F).
- Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker: 600 ml (0.63 quarts) – 16 minutes, -11°C (12.2°F).
- Cuisinart ICE-100 Ice Cream and Gelato Maker: 900 ml (0.95 quarts) mix – 35 minutes, -10°C (14°F).
- Breville BCI600XL Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker: 700 ml (0.74 quarts) – 34 minutes, -9°C (15.8°F).
- Whynter ICM-200LS: 900 ml (0.95 quarts) mix – 28 minutes, -10°C (14°F).
- Cuisinart ICE 30-BC: 900 ml (0.95 quarts) mix – 34 minutes, -11°C (12.2°F).
7. EXTRACTION TIME
The extraction time (the time it takes to get your partially frozen ice cream out of your machine and into the freezer) has a considerable effect on ice crystal size. This is because as you extract your ice cream from the bowl and into a plastic container, it spends time at room temperature. At this relatively warm room temperature, some of the ice melts from the large ice crystals and the crystals that were initially small melt completely. When you then get your ice cream into your freezer for the static freezing stage, the melted ice re-freezes onto the large ice crystals that survived. The result is that the total number of ice crystals is reduced and their size increases, resulting in coarse or grainy texture.
TIP#3 – QUICK EXTRACTION
Just holding ice cream at a relatively warm room temperature as you extract it from your machine results in an increase in mean ice crystal size and a decrease in the number of ice crystals present. It’s therefore important that you extract the ice cream from the freezer bowl and get it into your freezer as quickly as possible.
8. THE STATIC FREEZING STAGE
At a draw temperature of between -9°C and -12°C (15.8°F and 10.4°F), your ice cream will have a consistency very similar to that of soft serve ice cream and will need to be placed in your freezer to harden. After about 4 hours, depending on your freezer, your ice cream will have a nice firm scoopable consistency, somewhere around -15°C (5°F), and be ready to serve.
9. SERVING YOUR ICE CREAM
Serve your ice cream at around -15°C (5°F). As the serving temperature is increased from -14.4 (6.1) to -7.8°C (18°F), flavour and sweetness become more pronounced.
If you do give the recipe a go, I’d love to hear your thoughts so please do get in touch. Please help other chefs by using the stars at the top of the page to rate the recipe and please spread the love on facebook with the buttons below. Ruben 🙂
SECTION 3: QUICK-READ RECIPE
- Fill a large bowl with some ice. Place some table salt and a zip-lock bag next to the bowl ready for later.
- Combine the sugar, skimmed milk powder, egg yolks, cream, milk, and sea salt in a large pan. Heat over a medium heat until the temperature reaches 71°C (160°F), making sure you’re constantly stirring.
- When the mix reaches 71°C (160°F), quickly turn the heat down to low and position your pan slightly off the heat. Continue heating and stirring until the temperature reaches 72°C (162°F).
- Once the mix reaches 72°C (162°F), continue heating for 25 minutes whilst constantly stirring.
- After 25 minutes of heating, carefully pour the mix into the zip lock bag. Place the bag in the large bowl and pour about a tablespoon of salt over the ice.
- Once the mix has cooled to below 5°C (41°F), place in the fridge to age overnight.
- The next day, pour the mix into your ice cream machine followed by the roasted pistachio paste.
- After about 30 minutes of churning, depending on your machine, quickly empty the ice cream into a plastic container and place in the freezer for about 4 hours to harden.
- After about 4 hours, your ice cream will have a nice firm consistency and will be ready to serve.
References
Arbuckle, W.S., 1986. Ice Cream (4th ed). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Ben-Yoseph E., and Hartel, R. W., 1998. Computer simulation of ice recrystallization in ice cream during storage. Journal of Food Engineering 38(3):309–29.
Cook, K. L. K., & Hartel, R. W., 2010. Mechanisms of Ice Crystallisation in Ice Cream Production. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 9 (2).
Damodaran, S., 1996. Functional properties. In: Nakai, S., Modler, H.W. (Eds.), Food Proteins – Properties and Characterization. VCH Publisher, New York, pp. 167–234.
Donhowe, D. P., Hartel R. W., and Bradley R.L., 1991. Determination of ice crystal size distributions in frozen desserts. Journal of Dairy Science. 74.
Donhowe, D. P., 1993. Ice Recrystallization in Ice Cream and Ice Milk. PhD thesis, University of Wisconsm-Madison.
Donhowe, D. P., and Hartel, R. W., 1996. Recrystallization of ice in ice cream during controlled accelerated storage. International Dairy Journal. 6.
Drewett, E. M. & Hartel, R. W., 2007. Ice Crystallization in a Scraped Surface Freezer. Journal of Food Engineering. 78(3). 1060-1066
Flores, A. A., & Goff, H. D., 1999. Ice Crystal Size distribution in Dynamically Frozen Model Solutions and Ice Cream as Affected by Stabilzers. Journal of Dairy Science. Volume 82. 7. 1399–1407
Goff, H. D., 2012. Finding Science in Ice Cream. Presentation – Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science.
Goff, H. D. and Hartel R. W., 2013. Ice Cream. Seventh Edition. New York Springer.
Monahan, F. J., McClements, D. J. & Kinsella, J. E., 1993. Polymerization of whey proteins in whey protein-stabilized emulsions. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 41.1826–1829.
Phillips, L. G., Schulman, W. and Kinsella, J. E., 1990. pH and heat treatment effects on foaming of whey protein isolate. Journal of Food Science. 55:1116–1119.
Russell, A. B., Cheney, P. E., & Wantling, S. D., 1999. Influence of freezing conditions on ice crystallisation in ice cream. Journal of Food Engineering. 29.
Sava, N., Rotaru, G. & Hendrickx, M., 2005. Heat-induced changes in solubility and surface hydrophobicity of β-Lactoglobulin. Agroalimentary Processes and Technologies. Volume 11. 1. 41-48.
For the pistachio, i grind 1/2 of it up in a coffee grinder, not too long as I don’t want it to start letting out the oils, and then run it through screen to filter out the big pieces (which I save for later.) I then put that ground up pistachio in and cook it up for the last 10 minutes at the 162 degrees. I then let that cool overnight. When I churn I have the other 1/2 of the pistachio which I have a coarse chopping which I add to the machine near the end of the churn, when the ice cream is more solid. I have found NO difference in creaminess with this recipe vs. other options. BTW, do NOT add bigger pistachio while cooking or overnight to cool as the pistachio will get kind of soft.
Hi there Greg!
Thanks for the feedback. Very interesting to read that there is no difference in creaminess when you add the ground pistachios as I’ve experienced a slightly sandy texture when I finely ground some coffee beans and added those to the mixture during heating. Do you get an strong pistachio flavour with your method?
All the best,
Ruben
Be careful on your ingredients. There is no standard for what constitutes a pistachio spread, butter or paste. Many of them have fillers ranging from sugar to whey to almonds; one expensive one was 20% pistachios! A key to the way your addition affects the ice cream will be 1) don’t buy anything with extra ingredients and 2) pay careful attention to texture. If you look at a website by http://www.Fiddlyfarms.com, searching in their blog on the difference between pistachio paste and butter, you find: How to use each one… Pistachio Paste is most commonly used and best known for its use in flavoring baked goods, gelato, ice cream, confections, pastries or in gourmet cooking. The Pistachio Butters’ common uses entail eating it spread over foods or as a dip. They are both delicious in their own ways.”
Hey Roger! Yes you’re right about the non-standard pistachio paste and the added ingredients. Perhaps I should add something to say that it needs to be refined to a smooth consistency, or possibly include some pictures or video. I need to update this recipe.
All the best,
Ruben
I tried this recipe this past week. I used the Fiddleyfarms Pistachio Paste, and the result was FABULOUS. I’ve made many ice cream recipes over the years, and this is, by far, the smoothest ice cream I have EVER made. It was a huge hit with my friends.
🙂
I love the texture. My first batch is hardening in the freezer right now. One question: wouldn’t it be better to put the pistachio paste in right before pulling it out of the pan? Seems like it would give the pistachio more time to penetrate the cream. Is there a reason why you wait?
Hi again Roger!
I find that I get a more pronounced pistachio flavour when I add the paste during freezing. I don’t have any issues with the paste clumping or not mixing properly with the mix. I’d recommend trying a batch where you combine the paste with the mix after heating and let this age overnight, and then comparing this to a batch where you add the mix during the freezing stage. Please let me know what you think if you do give this a go.
All the best,
Ruben
Hi
Im curious making pistachio ice cream without egg yolks.
Ur calculation has not included egg yolk fat and pistachio fat.
Do u have any suggestion adjusting ur recipe if i want to make egg less.
Thx
Hi there Rummy!
Thanks for reaching out! Yes you’re right that my ice cream base mix does not take account of the added fat from egg yolk or the pistachios. This is because it’s primarily the milk fat that has a significant effect on texture. I’ve never actually tried making ice cream without yolks so not quite sure how to modify my recipe to omit them. There is a good chapter in Ice Cream by Goff and Hartel on mix formulation that you might find helpful.
I didn’t really answer your second question but I hope that short reply helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
All the best,
Ruben
Hi Ruben Thx for replying!
I made the Best pistachio ive ever tasted!
I usually weight all ingredients but this time i just used measuring cup.
Here is the recipe I made.
1cup Milk(1%)
1cup Cream(35%)
1/2cup Agave syrup
3/4cup Pistachio paste(http://www.kozagida.com.tr/eng/markalar.php?MARKA_ID=109)
I used The Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker
This was the look( https://www.instagram.com/p/BDoEmOYLAFz/?taken-by=rummysammy)
Thx
Looks great! 🙂
Hi Ruben!
This is my second batch I’ve made from your recipes!
And it went perfect! Great taste and consistency!
I made it a day before you updated it again, I now see that you changed the formula to 15% reduction and 110g pistachio paste instead of 100, are there any differences between the two formulas? Can I use the 13% reduction formula for all your nut base ice cream recipes? Because the nut pastes I’m buying come in 200 grams
Although I used raw pistachio paste because I can’t find roasted pastes in my country, the taste was very good.
I don’t mind using raw nut pastes but on my next batch I’d like to try roasted, do you think it’s possible to roast the paste in the oven on let’s say 90 c for 15~20 mins to achive roasted nut pastes?
Also, can you provide me some tips how you get the right ratio of flavorings to base in your ice creams? Because from my knowlege either water, fat, sugar or solids can affect the texture if you don’t get it right.
Thank you very much!
Hi again Yorai!
The only difference between the two formulas is the use of skimmed milk powder in the updated version. You will still get excellent flavour if you use 100g of nut paste for the 15% reduction recipe, that isn’t a problem. I updated the pistachio recipe with the 15% reduction mix purely because the 13% reduction mix produces too much ice cream, with the addition of the nut paste, for some domestic ice cream makers. You can use either the 15 or 13% reduction recipe and either 100 or 110g of nut paste 🙂
I’ve never tried roasting nut pastes so don’t know whether that would work, sorry. My guess is that you would need to be very attentive and probably keep roasting time down so as to avoid burning the paste. I don’t know whether roasting would also cause a significant amount of water to be evaporated, which may affect texture.
I don’t really have any tips for getting the right ratio of flavourings to base other than around 100g for nut pastes and between 150 – 200g for the roasted or concentrated fruits seem to work well. It’s simply a matter of a lot of trial and error to get the flavour and texture right. I suspect there is a chapter in Ice Cream by Goff & Hartel on the water content increase from added fruits.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
All the best,
Ruben
Dude, you’re incredible, excellent blog! thanks for sharing!
Just sharing the ice cream love. Hope the blog helps!
is pistachio butter (roasted pistachios ground in the food processor for approximately 10 minutes) the same as pistachio paste?
Hi Sofia! Roast pistachios ground in a food processor probably won’t have the same smooth consistency as pistachio paste. Your pistachio ice cream might not be as smooth as that made with pistachio paste but I’m sure it will be good nonetheless. If you can’t get hold of pistachio paste, I say give the pistachio butter a go and see how your ice cream turns out.
Hope that helps 🙂
The naming convention (any nut butter vs nut paste) is that the paste has added sugar in it, while the butter is made only of the nut (a small % of oil is allowed if the nut is very dry).
Grounding a nut for several minutes in a food processor is a first step in making nut butter, but for a really smooth product you will need to grind it (sometimes for several hours) in a stone grinder. There are some India-made stone grinder which, although originally made for grinding rice (a much softer grain), are able to made small quantities of nut butters if the nut is pre-grounded in a food processor.
Pistacchio is my favourite flavour too.I often have pistacchio and mocha ice cream. Though I went to Amorino last time and they have “sweet pistacchio” as well as “roasted pistacchio”, I took both to compare, that was interesting. Also I think pistacchio is a great way to see if the ice cream shop is a good one; so many make it with almond extract and some green color. Pastel green color for pistacchio definitely puts me off, but yours looks amazing!
Hey Charlotte! Great to hear from you again! Did you go to Amorino in the UK or in France? I have tried their pistachio ice cream and it was incredible!
Like the new look of your blog! 🙂
Hi Ruben,
Many thanks for this recipe. I will be trying it out this weekend. presume that the paste must be kept refrigerated at 0-2 degrees Celsius before adding it to the mix in the machine, correct?
Regards,
Evis
Hi there Evis!
Thanks for getting in touch. Yes, ideally you should chill the pistachio paste to between 0-4°C so that any crystallisation of fat that has taken place during the ageing process is not aversely affected. Saying that, I added the paste at room temperature the last time I made pistachio ice cream and the texture was still smooth and creamy.
Hope your pistachio ice cream goes well.
All the best, Ruben
Hi!
Do you use a pistachio paste that contains sugar, or it is pure pistachio?
If I have the type that contains sugar, what is the change in quantity of paste/sugar?
Thanks, Tal
Hi Tal!
Thanks for getting in touch! The pistachio paste that I use does not include any adding ingredients. If your pistachio paste includes sugar, you could try slightly reducing the sugar content in the ice cream mix. I can’t give you an exact figure as it will depend on how sweet the pistachio paste is. Just try not to reduce the sugar content too much in the mix as this will affect the texture.
I don’t think the added sugar in your paste will have a negative effect on the ice cream and so I’d recommend giving the recipe a go with the stated quantities. You can then take it from there if it is too sweet.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you need any help.
All the best, Ruben
Thanks Ruben. Just starting , will let you know. 🙂
Another option for your pistachio paste is to grind your own in an Indian wet grinder. For about USD200 you can buy a Premier Wonder Wet Grinder which does the job nicely. I don’t know how much 1kg of Callebaut pistachio paste costs, but I don’t think it would take long to pay back the price of that wet grinder.
Hi Gareth!
The Indian wet grinder sounds interesting; I have never come across one before. Does it use water to crush solids into a fine paste? My only concern is that if oil or water comes in contact with the pistachios, it might dilute or alter the flavour.
Have you used an Indian wet grinder before? If so, what is the consistency of the ground solids?
Looking forward to your reply.
Many thanks, Ruben
I use a wet grinder to mill cocoa beans into chocolate and nuts into nut pastes (including pistachios) for pastry applications (including ice cream). It’s my understanding that a wet grinder is specifically for grinding things that release fat (that’s why it’s a “wet” grinder) – so I roast my pistachios and just throw them in the grinder. I think 1kg takes 3-4 hours. The fat releases from the nuts and it forms a smooth paste.
Sounds very very interesting. I’m going to try and get hold of an Indian wet grinder to see what the resulting pistachio paste is like.
Many thanks for the recommendation Gareth.
This is the one I use: http://www.amazon.com/Premier-17817-Wonder-Grinder/dp/B001OHV5QQ
The only thing I’m confused about is your designation of fat % in cream. In the US, the nutrition label doesn’t state that high of a percentage. For example, the Strauss Creamery cream I have states “total fat – 8%.”
So, is the fat content in the cream you get that much higher or is the UK simply measuring it differently?
Ohayou! Just had a quick look at the Straus Family Creamery whipping cream. I think the total fat content of 8% that you mentioned refers to a 15ml serving. 100ml the Straus whipping cream has a fat content of around 33g, or 33%.
I’ll try and put something up on the blog soon to help you adjust the milk and cream quantities if you can’t get cream with the fat contents that I mention in the recipe.
Hope that helps!
Thanks, that does help! Another question: do you not have whole milk in the UK? If not, is this the reason why you use milk powder? I presume there is whole milk in the UK. So, I’m wondering, what is the advantage of using semi-skimmed milk (or in the US, “2%”) + milk powder vs. whole milk?
We do indeed have whole milk here in the good old UK. The reason I suggested skim milk powder in the vanilla and salted caramel recipes was to increase the protein content in the mix. They were the first two recipes I put up on the blog and I no longer use or recommend skim milk powder as I wasn’t happy using processed ingredients in my ice cream (I need to update the vanilla and salted caramel recipes to say bye bye to milk powder).
Hope that helps! Let me know if you need any more help.
Aha! Thanks for letting me know!
I’m in the U.S. If you check wikipedia on the subject “fat in milk” you will see that the U.S. standard for heavy cream is 36% and for whole milk is 3.25% There is also something called “manufacturer’s cream” which is 45% butterfat. How do you make sure which one you have?
Second question: This is my first time weighing ingredients. Some of the cream and milk stuck to the container, as much as a gram or two. How close do I need to be to getting these exact amounts into the mixture? Thanks again for the great web site.
Hi again Roger!
Here in the U.K the fat content of milk and cream is listed on the back of the carton or bottle. Does it not say something like ‘per 100 ml of cream’ and then list the fat, sugar, protein contents etc on the back of your carton? If you’re sourcing your dairy directly from a farm, you could always try asking the farmer.
A gram or two stuck to the container won’t make any difference to the recipe at all. Over 5g or so difference for each ingredient might have a negative effect.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you need a hand with anything else and please do let me know what you think of the recipes if you give any a go! 🙂
All the best,
Ruben