I recently picked up a new Lebanese cookbook (Saffron in the Souks) and it had a pistachio ice cream recipe in it. Unfortunately, the recipe included clotted cream, and being lactose intolerant is a no-go. I first looked at other pistachio ice cream recipes and they seemed to add cream cheese or other ingredients I could have. So ended up using my own recipe, modified a smidge to get all the ingredients incorporated, and let me use lactose-free cream.
One takeaway from other pistachio ice cream recipes was to grind the pistachios with the sugar. That was definitely the route to take as it ended up distributing the pistachio flavor throughout. It ended up being a honey, orange blossom, and pistachio ice cream, with all three flavors combining perfectly. Each spoonful gave you a light hit of orange blossom water, then honey, then finish with pistachio. So good that I wanted to share with the sweet gentleman who runs the Mediterranean grocery shop and where I picked up the pistachios for it. Every time I go in there he ends up giving me a treat, usually a piece of his baklava. When I finally gave him a treat back (a small jar of the ice cream), he thanked me, and then he must have snuck a spoonful when I was wandering around the shop, because he said it was really good, that he would sell it for me if I brought more, then hugged me and kissed the top of my head.
The Hubby gave this a big thumbs up and proclaimed it as being something he would buy in the store. I might have to rethink giving the local shop some to sell for me…
Orange Blossom and Pistachio Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 cup orange blossom water
- 3 tablespoons honey*
- 4 egg yolks
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 150 grams pistachios
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
Instructions
- In a small food processor, chop the sugar and pistachios, until they are a fine grind. Set aside.
- In a large saucepot, add the 1 cup of cream and orange blossom water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often. When the milk begins to steam and small bubbles form around the edges, add the honey and stir until it has melted and incorporated with the milk.
- In a small bowl lightly whisk the egg yolks and salt.
- Slowly drizzle about half the milk mixture in, whisking constantly. Once tempered, add the 1/c cup of cream to the egg mixture, whisk to combine, Then add the entire mixture to the rest of the heated cream and stir to combine.
- Add the pistachio sugar and stir (not whisk!) to blend.** On medium heat, cook for about 3-5 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Pour into a large measuring cup (4-cup), let cool, then cover with saran wrap, letting the wrap touch the top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming, and set in the fridge overnight.