Thursday 15 October 2015

Pistachio Ice Cream











There are people who go out in their sandals and summer dresses with their thighs and shoulders exposed at the first whiff of warm air.  I'm the culinary equivalent of that.  As soon as the nip of winter is gone, I'm barbecuing chicken on the sundeck and whipping up something cold and delicious for dessert like Ina on a fine day in the Hamptons.



Pistachio Ice Cream
slightly adapted from here
Makes about 750ml

2 cups full cream milk
1 tablespoon (20g) cornflour
45g cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups thickened cream
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup (or honey or Golden Syrup)
1/2 cup toasted pistachios, ground in a coffee grinder or food processor till super-fine
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt flakes

Put 2 tablespoons of the milk and all of the cornflour into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

Put the remaining milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup into a medium pan and bring to boil over moderate heat. Keep boiling for 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the cornflour mixture, whisking until incorporated. Put the pan back on the heat and cook for a further minute, until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the pistachios, almond extract and salt and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture into a jug, cover with plastic wrap making sure the plastic wrap is directly on top the mixture to stop a skin from forming, and chill in the refrigerator until completely cold. I generally leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into your ice cream machine, pressing the pistachios with the back of the spoon to extract as much flavour as possible. Churn according to manufacturer's instructions (mine takes about 15 minutes to become scoopable). Eat straight away, or decant into a freezer-safe container (I use a loaf pan), cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream to stop ice crystals from forming. and store in the freezer until firm.

1 comment:

  1. Pistachi ice cream is my favorite. I never made some. I should really considered making this soon, it just looks so perfect!!!

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