Pistachio Ice Cream

Recently, I noticed that Costco sells products from Early Robin, a brand from a Canadian company called Premier Nuts. What caught my eye was the fact that their pistachio cream (a blend of nuts, milk powder, sugar) contained 70% nuts. Every other pistachio spread I’ve tried (several Italian brands purchased at Eataly, a Turkish one purchased from Mado, even the one at Soma), had far less pistachio. What was even more exciting was that Early Robin also sold a 99% pistachio paste! I quickly added a two-pack of one of each to my Costco cart. At $40 CAD for 500g, this works out to a cost of $8 / 100g, a definite splurge, but cheaper than any other comparable product.

The recipe comes from the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream book. It’s a regular custard ice cream base, made with a bit more cream than milk, and six egg yolks. It calls for a quarter cup of pistachio paste. We already polished off the pistachio cream, so I used the one that was almost pure nuts.

What a revelation that I could make such a delicious ice cream at home! The pistachio flavour is pronounced, and the sweetness and richness is just right. The colour is a wonderful, pale green. I think I could even increase the amount of pistachio paste some more. Or experiment with mixing in toasted pistachios or brittle!