No Churn Pistachio Ice Cream

Name: No Churn Pistachio Ice Cream
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 200 min
Ingredients: 600 millilitres double cream; 200 millilitres condensed milk (or half of a 379g tin); 50 grams caster sugar; 100 grams pistachios (shelled and unsalted)

Have a penchant for pistachios? Then this no-churn ice cream recipe is for you! My no-churn pistachio ice cream is so simple to make but oh so creamy and full of flavour. Get the recipe below.

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Keeping it simple

I’m starting to wonder if I’m a complete fraud. You see, I’ve posted 3 no-churn ice cream recipes since the start of summer and I know I’ve got at least one more to post before the hot weather dies down. My secret to “churning” out so many ice cream recipes? They all use the same simple base. Once I nailed the ratios of double cream to condensed milk I had this wonderful blank canvas that I could start covering with weird and wonderful flavour combinations. I’ve made a tonne of “regular” ice cream flavours using this method – strawberry and raspberry ripple are two of my favourites – but let’s be honest they’re not really blogworthy! Black Sesame Ice Cream however was a real revelation and I’ve been getting tonnes of good feedback from people who have tried it on Instagram. Blueberry and Yuzu Ripple Ice Cream was another Japanese inspired flavour combination that has gone down really well.

For today’s flavour I decided to keep things simple with just one flavour – pistachio. I love pistachios for two reasons: (1) they look stunning; (2) they taste amazing when turned into desserts. I’ve never been one to sit and munch on a handful of pistachios (though they do taste pretty good in a salad) but when they are turned into confectionery or baked into cakes and pastries they are my absolute favourite! So, as I was riffling through my cupboards looking for something to turn into ice-cream I decided to use up a bag of pistachios. (Full disclosure: there’s a good possibility they were leftover from when I made this Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Cake for my Dad’s birthday.)

I considered making a chocolate ice cream and just adding the pistachios for a bit of crunch but then chocolate would be the star of the show and I really wanted this recipe to be all about the bright green nuts I love so much. The question was, how do you take a whole nut and get it in a form that can be mixed with cream and condensed milk to make a smooth ice cream? It turns out the answer is a high powered blender! I chucked the pistachios into my Vitamix and whizzed them until they were a fine powder – as fine as icing sugar. When I stirred this pistachio “dust” into the whipped cream and condensed ice cream base it turned a lovely pale shade of green. I sprinkled a few chopped pistachios over the top and the froze the mix for 3 hours before spooning out into velvety smooth balls of pistachio ice cream. A drizzle of chocolate sauce and a few extra chopped pistachios finished this simple dessert off nicely.

The recipe

So here it is, that simple recipe in all its glory. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Are there any other weird and wonderful flavours you’d like me to try?

5 from 6 votes