What is pistachio cream?

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.

Is pistachio butter the same as pistachio cream?

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.

Easy Homemade Pistachio Cream

Pistachio Cream

Print Recipe

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5 from 5 reviews

Smooth and nutty, this pistachio cream is going to become your next obsession. It's so delicious and goes with so many other dishes.

Author: margie
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

Scale

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)

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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 icing 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, pop the butter, white chocolate and the rest of the milk into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. 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.

Notes

Pistachios: You want to use raw, unsalted pistachios for this recipe

How to store: 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.

Doubling the recipe: You can easily double the recipe - but just take take 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.

Find it online: https://desertislanddishes.co/pistachio-cream/