There aren’t many people who won’t absolutely love pistachio cream. If you’re a Nutella fiend, you will love this. If you are a pistachio lover and always find yourself choosing pistachio gelato when on holiday, you will also love this.
Pistachio cream is perfect just smothered on toast I’ll be honest but I have also a recipe for pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants. Almost so decadent they could be pudding rather than brunch and they are both delicious recipes. It would also be incredible swirled into some softly whipped cream and sandwiched between two chocolate cake rounds. I like to use it in a pistachio pavlova too. I add finely chopped pistachio to the meringue and then fold the pistachio cream through whipped double cream to layer it on. The list is endless!
Why you will love this Pistachio Cream
- It’s like Nutella’s sophisticated older sister, and a perfect addition to so many breakfasts and puddings
- Since it’s real pistachio, it has a great nutty flavour that isn’t overpowered by the other ingredients.
- It means you can make my pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants, both show-stopping brunch options.
You will need the following ingredients:
Pistachios: buy shelled if you can as it will save you shelling yourself. They don’t need to be salted or roasted.
Whole milk: semi-skimmed would work but I am of the belief in a recipe like this that if you’re going to be making something very indulgent like this, you might as well go the full way and use whole milk.
Salted butter: if you only have unsalted, use that but add a pinch of salt alongside.
White chocolate: try to buy good-quality white chocolate with a good amount of cocoa butter rather than just sugar. As this is quite sweet anyway and you don’t want it overwhelmingly sweet.
Icing sugar: to the American readers, powdered sugar. You only need 1 tablespoon.
Substitutions and Variations:
Icing sugar: since you only need one tablespoon, I can understand not wanting to buy a whole bag for this purpose. If needed, just add an extra 20g or so of white chocolate. This will add to the sweetness.
Here's how to make Pistachio Cream
ONE: Boil the pistachios for a few minutes to soften them. Then drain and tip onto a clean tea towel to dry.
TWO: Then use the tea towel to rub the pistachios to loosen the skins. You want to separate the pistachios from the skins. Once you’re done, pop the pistachios into a food processor and discard the skins.
THREE: Add icing sugar and just a splash of milk, then blitz well until smooth. Transfer to a blender when it's a thick paste.
FOUR: Melt the white chocolate, butter and milk together in a saucepan over low heat.
FIVE: Once smooth and melted, remove the melted chocolate from heat and add to a blender.
SIX: Blend in the blender until totally glossy and smooth. Done!
Cooking Tips
Making it smooth: You just need a strong food processor and blender. The reason you use both is that the food processor chops the pistachios finely whereas a blender will get the paste super smooth once you add the melted white chocolate. This means you can achieve the perfect final texture. If you only have one and not both, it will work but you might need to be more patient with the final texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common in Italy, pistachio cream is a sweetened pistachio paste that you can use in a multitude of ways. I usually can find it in some supermarkets these days in the UK and it’s easy to order online but it’s also surprisingly easy to make too.
Typically, no. Pistachio cream is sweetened, like here with sugar and blended with white chocolate. Pistachio butter is more like peanut butter, just blended nuts with perhaps some oil and some salt, not sweetened.
Other recipes you might like to try
If you love pistachio cream, I have also a recipe for pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants. They are both so good for an impressive brunch. If you love pistachio, this pistachio tiramisu will be your dream dessert. Let me know what you think once you try it!
Made this recipe and loved it?
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PrintPistachio Cream
Smooth and nutty, this pistachio cream is going to become your next obsession. It's so delicious and goes with so many other dishes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes 1 large jar 1x
- Category: Pudding
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 140g shelled pistachios (you can shell them yourself but it takes a while so buy shelled if you can!)
- 180ml whole milk
- 25g salted butter
- 100g white chocolate
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- I always start by boiling the shelled pistachios for 3 minutes to soften them. Then drain them and set them on a clean tea towel to dry.
- Then use the tea towel to rub the pistachios to loosen the skins. You want to separate the pistachios from the skins. This step does take a little time but I promise it’s worth it. If you don’t remove the skins your pistachio cream won’t be lovely and vibrant green and will taste slightly more bitter, not in a bad way, it’s still good! But this way is really really good. Once you’re done, pop the pistachios into a food processor and discard the skins.
- Add the milk and 1 tablespoon of icing sugar to the food processor with the pistachios. Blend for around 5 minutes until the pistachios turn into a smooth pistachio paste, scraping down the sides every minute or so. Be patient – to begin with, it will resemble breadcrumbs but eventually, it will turn into a paste – this is important.
- Heat the butter and white chocolate in a saucepan and heat gently until melted.
- Scoop the pistachio paste into a blender and then pour in the melted white chocolate mixture. Blend until extra creamy and silky smooth.
Notes
You want to use raw, unsalted pistachios for this recipe
The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for 1 week in an airtight jar or container but I highly doubt you will have any problems using it.
Bilqish says
Made this pistachio cream recipe, super easy and so delicious.
Margie Nomura says
So pleased, thank you for letting me know x
Maha says
Can't wait to make this as pistachio cream on amazon is soooo expensive! Instead of milk, could I use double or single cream?
My little girl is turning 1 next month and having a family party to celebrate. If this receipe goes well, I am hoping to make little treats and maybe a cake with the pistachio cream.
Margie Nomura says
Ooh do you know, I haven't tested it with cream so I couldn't say for sure. It's perfect with the milk, butter, white chocolate and icing sugar combo. If you do want to try using cream I would use single and not double and maybe miss out the butter. But I haven't tested it so I cant tell you and would hate for it not to work. If you can, do try it as it's written as it's really good! xxx
Zach C says
What brand of what chocolate should I use? Are Lindt bars ok?
Margie Nomura says
Yes! I am not very loyal to white chocolate brands so tend to use what I can find. I find a good rule of thumb is if it is nice enough to eat, it's nice enough to cook with, and vice versa if it doesn't taste great when you have a bite, try to avoid using it x