Cherry Pistachio Ice Cream

5 from 1 vote

You’ll love the texture and crunch of this Cherry Pistachio Ice Cream. The combination of sweet cherries with salty pistachios makes for the best scoop of ice cream in your life.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Freezing Time8

Total Time8 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Author: Amy Nash

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups roasted, shelled pistachios divided
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar divided
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups pitted frozen sweet cherries chopped
Green or blue food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Combine 1 cup pistachios and 1/4 cup sugar in a blender or food processor. Process until finely ground. Roughly chop the remaining pistachios and set aside.
1 1/2 cups roasted, shelled pistachios, 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine finely ground pistachios with milk and cream. Heat just until bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan, but do not bring to a boil.
1 1/2 cups whole milk, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks with remaining sugar in a large bowl.
4 egg yolks
Add 1 cup of hot liquid to egg yolks, whisking to combine and gently temper egg yolks so they don’t scramble when adding to the saucepan.
Add tempered egg yolk mixture to the saucepan and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts, and food coloring, if using.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, Green or blue food coloring
Cool completely, then pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing against ground pistachios to release as much flavor as possible.
Transfer ice cream base to fridge to chill for 2-3 hours or overnight until cold.
Once fully chilled, churn ice cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add reserved chopped pistachios and cherries during the last 1 minute of churning to evenly disperse throughout ice cream.
2 cups pitted frozen sweet cherries
Transfer finished ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Freeze for 4-6 hours until hard.

Notes

You may want to add a tiny amount of food coloring to tint the mixture. If using concentrated gel food coloring, use a toothpick to get a small amount and add a little at a time. The blue will counteract the natural yellow color from the egg yolks and ground pistachios, giving a more natural green hue to the ice cream base.

Nutrition

QR code

Scan this QR code with your phone's camera to view this recipe on your mobile device.