I made pistachio ice cream this week with the leftovers of the pistachio milk, but while this is still gluten free it is no longer vegan. I used both eggs and heavy cream to create this.
It's a good sign when I make ice cream and then hand the dasher off to my husband that he wants to bury his face in the ice cream canister after I'm done transferring all the ice cream I can to a tupperware for the freezer.
He looked a little silly with pistachio ice cream on both his beard and his hands, and wanted to know when I was going to make more. I thought he only like pumpkin things enough to ask for that!
To anyone who has made things from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, this ice cream will seem familiar though there is not a pistachio ice cream in the entire book.
It's the method. Heat "milk" and sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is steaming and then add to beaten egg yolks to temper. Cook the resulting egg mixture until a custard forms. Strain into cream, cool and churn. Ice cream is much easier and more forgiving than people seem to realize. Once you have the basics down, anyone can make their own recipes with only a little refresher on proportions.
Ingredients:
1 cup pistachio milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup pistachios, chopped fine
Heat the pistachio milk and the sugar over medium to medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid starts to steam. Move the liquid off the burner. In a separate bowl slowly add up to half of the milk mixture a ladleful at a time to the beaten egg yolks, tempering them. Tempering eggs means that the eggs won't be shocked when we scrape the entire mixture and immediately turn into scrambled eggs.
Add heavy cream to a medium-sized bowl and place a strainer on top. Add the egg yolk mixture back to the remaining milk mixture and return to medium heat. Stir constantly (I use a wooden paddle or spoon for this) until the mixture thickens. The mixture should be thick enough that you can take the back of the spoon and run your finger through the mixture in the middle creating a streak. Tipping the spoon on the side will still leave the streak visible.
Once the mixture has thickened (5-10 minutes at most depending on how high the temperature is), pour through the strainer into the cream. I use a rubber spatula to get out all of the goodness and to push some of the mixture through the strainer. Don't push too hard. You don't want to transfer any scrambled egg bits to the ice cream. Mix thoroughly and then chill in the fridge overnight (or until cold, a few hours).
Before churning the ice cream, I placed a 1/3 cup of pistachios into a food processor and pulsed until they were mostly finely chopped. I set up my ice cream maker (which for me actually includes turning it on before adding the liquid - I think it makes it less likely to be huge frozen clumps on the side) and poured the liquid through the hole in the top. I churned for 35 minutes and then added the chopped pistachios. One to 5 minutes additional churning and it is done! Scrape out the ice cream and store in the freezer.
Yum!
