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This easy homemade pistachio cream is the most delicious spread made with just 5 ingredients. A delicious blend of pistachios, white chocolate, and milk. Italian Pistachio cream, or Crema al Pistacchio, is not only delicious but it’s incredibly simple to make at home. I think it tastes even better than the stuff you can buy in the shops! It’s simple and delicious.
Use this recipe to make pistachio cream to fill decadent French toast, add to buttercream icing, use it in cheesecakes, or simply spread on hot toast.
Table of Contents
What is pistachio cream?
Common in Italy, pistachio cream, or crema al pistacchio as it’s known in Italy, is a sweetened pistachio paste that you can use in a multitude of ways. I can usually find it in some supermarkets in the UK these days, and it’s easy to order online, but it’s also surprisingly easy to make.
What’s the difference between pistachio cream, butter, and paste?
Pistachio cream is sweetened, here with sugar, and blended with white chocolate. Pistachio butter is more like peanut butter; it is blended nuts with perhaps some oil and some salt. You can find this both sweetened and unsweetened, depending on the brand.
Using pistachio cream
Pistachio cream is so good in so many ways. I love this pistachio cream French toast or these pistachio croissants. Almost so decadent they could be pudding rather than brunch, and they are both delicious recipes. You can kind of use this creamy Italian pistachio spread in the same way you would Nutella.
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. Or, of course, you need pistachio cream to make anything inspired by Dubai Chocolate bars.
If you haven’t tried pistachio cream before, you are in for a treat! It’s creamy and sweet with a hint of nuttiness. It’s honestly so so good. And if you haven’t tried making it before, let me show you how simple it is to make at home.
Why you will love this recipe
- 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 flavor 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.
Ingredients
- Raw unsalted pistachios – Buy shelled if you can, as it will save you shelling yourself. They don’t need to be salted or roasted. Raw pistachios give the best texture and color.
Quick Tip
Removing the papery skins from the pistachios does take a little time – one of those things that takes longer than you think, but honestly it’s so worth it. The easiest way I’ve found is to boil them for a few minutes and then rub them with a clean towel. Then you’re left with a gorgeously vibrant green pistachio, and your cream is a beautiful color!
- Whole milk – A lower-fat milk would work, but I am of the belief that, in a recipe like this, if you’re going to be making something very indulgent, you might as well go the full way and use whole milk.
- Salted butter – If you only have unsalted butter, taste it after the final blend, and add a pinch of salt if needed for flavor balance, then blend again.
- 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 the flavor to be overwhelmingly sweet.
- Confectioners’ sugar – Also called icing sugar or powdered sugar. You only need 1 tablespoon.
Variation
Since you only need 1 tablespoon of sugar, I can understand not wanting to buy a whole bag for this purpose. If needed, just add an extra 3/4 oz (20g) or so of white chocolate. This will add to the sweetness.
Here’s how to make pistachio cream
Here’s a quick visual guide — the full recipe with exact measurements is below.
ONE: Boil the pistachios for a few minutes to soften them. Then drain and tip onto a clean towel to dry.
TWO: Use the towel to rub the pistachios to loosen the skins. You want to separate the pistachios from the skins. Once you’re done, pop the peeled pistachios into a food processor and discard the skins.
THREE: Add the sugar and just a splash of milk, then blitz well until smooth. Transfer to a blender when it’s a thick paste.
FOUR: Meanwhile, pop the butter, white chocolate, and the rest of the milk into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water over a low heat to create a double boiler.
FIVE: Once smooth and melted, remove the melted chocolate from the heat and add to a blender.
SIX: Blend in the blender until totally glossy and smooth. Done!
Tips from Margie’s kitchen
- 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.
- Using a food processor/blender: Since your blender/food processor will be working hard here to make a smooth cream, make sure to give the processor breaks in between blending, using a spoon to stir the contents around and scrape down the sides. This is especially important if the blender starts warming up.
- Peeling pistachios: It’s important to peel the pistachios using the towel trick to avoid little bits in the pistachio cream, which ruins the texture. It also darkens the color so you don’t get the lovely light green shade.
Frequently asked questions
Ideally, raw unsalted pistachios are best for making pistachio cream. Persian pistachios tend to be the brightest green if that’s important to you, or even Turkish or Sicilian pistachios. But any work. If you use roasted, salted pistachios, this works too, but won’t be as bright green.
Yes, you can. It will just lean into the salty, sweet combination. Use unsalted butter in the cream to balance it out. Taste it once done, and you can always add a pinch of salt if it needs any more.
Ideally, both make the best texture. However, if you only have a blender, this will still work. Start by pulsing the blender, and then you can blend properly when you add the splash of milk. Just give the blender lots of breaks. You can also do this with only a food processor, but the final texture will not be as smooth; it’ll be a bit chunkier.
The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for 2 weeks in an airtight jar or container.
I haven’t tried freezing it, so I can’t be completely sure, but it should work. The milk could turn a little grainy once you defrost. If this happens, I think you could fix it by running it through the blender again. If in doubt, add a bit more melted white chocolate mix, and that should fix it!
Other recipes you might like to try
If you love pistachio cream, I also have a recipe for pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants. You will also love my pistachio tiramisu, pistachio raspberry cake, and, of course, my Dubai chocolate & strawberry dessert.
Easy Dessert Recipes
Mango Pancakes
Breakfast & Brunch
Hong Kong French Toast with Hazelnut Creme
Pancake Recipes
Poffertjes (Dutch Mini Pancakes)
Easy Dessert Recipes
Easy Lemon Curd
If you tried this Pistachio Cream or any other recipe on the site, please do leave a comment and let us know how it went!
Easy Homemade Pistachio Cream
Ingredients
- 5 oz (140 g/about 1 cup) shelled pistachios, You can shell them yourself but it takes a while so buy shelled if you can!
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) whole milk
- 2 tbsp (25 g) salted butter
- 3.5 oz (100 g) white chocolate, (about 2/3 cup, chopped)
- 1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar (icing 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 kitchen towel to dry.
- Then use the 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 sugar and just a splash of milk.
- 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.
- Meanwhile, create a double boiler: pop the butter, white chocolate, and the rest of the milk into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water over low heat. Allow to melt slowly, stirring every now and then. Once melted, remove from the heat.
- Scoop the pistachio paste into a blender and then pour in the melted white chocolate mixture. Blend until extra creamy and silky smooth.
Video
Notes
Storage
The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for 2 weeks in an airtight jar or container, but I highly doubt you will have any problems using it.More tips
- Pistachios: You want to use raw, unsalted pistachios for this recipe.
- Doubling the recipe: You can easily double the recipe – but just remember that whenever you do increase the proportions of a recipe, you might not always need the full amount of liquid, so don’t add all the milk in one go – it’s very easy to add liquid to a recipe but very hard to take it away, so a little at a time is the best way. This pistachio cream should be thick and creamy – not too liquidy.
- Making with only a blender (or only a food processor): If you only have a blender, start by pulsing the blender, and then you can blend properly when you add the splash of milk. Just give the blender lots of breaks. You can also do this with only a food processor, but the final texture will not be as smooth; it’ll be a bit chunkier.
- Nutritional info: The calories listed above are for the whole jar of pistachio cream, which is not a single serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is not about the recipe, but your answer. Pistachio butter CAN also be sweet. I have a 2.2 lb tub of Sweet Gusto Etna Pistachio Butter from Italy (using pistachio’s from Brontë) that I bought on Amazon – took six weeks to arrive, but worth it every penny!
If I can only get roasted & salted pistachios would it still work, but change the butter to unsalted maybe?
I haven’t tried it with roasted & salted pistachios so can’t say 100%, but there is no reason why it shouldn’t work. It will just lean into the salty, sweet combination. Use unsalted butter I agree – taste it once done and you can always add a pinch of salt if it needs any more. Let us know how it goes!
Used roasted/salted pistachios and unsalted butter, added a touch of salt and it’s pretty perfect! First use, I froze a layer (8.5oz / 240g) of it to put in the middle of some brownies
How long will this last in the fridge? Can it be frozen?
Hi Ella, it will last for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. I haven’t tried freezing it so I can’t be 100% sure but I think it should work. The milk could turn a little grainy once you defrost, that’s my only concern. If this happens, I think you could fix it by running it through the blender again. If in doubt, add a bit more melted white chocolate mix and that should fix it!
Have you refrigerated your pistachio cream? Does it solidify in the fridge like a Nutella spread? I personally love the texture of a cold, firmer spread and dollop spoons of it everywhere, on brioche, waffles, ice cream, directly in my mouth etc.
I’ve been making my own Gianduja, mixed variations of milk and dark chocolate, and I’ve only added olive oil to liquefy it down. Perhaps I could try doing that in place of milk in your recipe but only after trying out yours as is 🙂
It does! It goes a little firmer because of the white chocolate solidifying x
This is delicious! Just made it. Not too sweet, perfect on sourdough toast!
How much does this make? It says one large jar but that could mean anything? Looks delicious too!
You’re right! It makes enough to fill a standard Jam Jar that fits about 280ml xx
I made this and it came out delicious. Thank you so much
Gonna use it as a macron filling
I was in a bit of a desperate situation as the store I usually buy pistachio cream from had sold out. Found this recipe and after testing it I don’t think I’ll ever be using store bought again – this recipe was excellent! My advice is to follow it exactly to the word of the instructions, as every step here is key in producing an exquisite end product. Thank you for this recipe!
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.
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
What brand of what chocolate should I use? Are Lindt bars ok?
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
Made this pistachio cream recipe, super easy and so delicious.
So pleased, thank you for letting me know x