PISTACHIO ICE CREAM

My nephew's naughty little hand helping me during the shoot :) 

I was inspired to make this ice cream after I went to the a gelateria in Eindhoven centrum with my sister and my nephew. My nephew always orders the chocolate ice cream, my sister gets the pistachio and I'm always undecided (my favorite ice cream is cookies and cream, too bad they don't have too much of it in Holland).  I made this around summer holiday last year, around the time when I made my durian ice cream. I was on an ice cream craze! This one is slowly becoming my favorite! I made it two other times after this shoot.. 

I'm trying out a new posting schedule for my blog, since I'm busy at school, I'm posting every 4 or 5 days and I post alternately, one post for food/dishes and the other is for desserts and sweets! Enjoy reading!

Tools

• 1 sauce pan
• Hand mixer
• Blender 
• Ice cream machine

Ingredients

• 350 ml milk
• 150 ml heavy cream 
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 200 gr sugar
• 300 gr unsalted pistachio nuts
• 1 vanilla pod, seeded
• 200 ml cream, whipped with a sprinkle of sugar 

Method

• In a saucepan, add in the milk, heavy cream, pistachio nuts and vanilla. With a medium heat warm the milk until bubbles appear on the side of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat, let the milk infuse for 20 - 30 minutes. 
• Whip 200 ml of cream until stiff peak and set aside in the fridge.
• After the milk mixture has cooled down a bit, blend it with a blender to your desired consistency. I like to still be able to feel and bite the pistachio, so I don't blend the nuts too finely. 
• In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar until the mixture is thick and pale. Gradually add the milk from the blender, mix well. 
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, stir continuously and cook the mixture until it reaches 70 degree Celsius or until it coats a wooden spoon. 
• Let the mixture cool, outside for 20 minutes and refrigerate it for 1 - 2 hours. If you have cooking thermometer, I find it best to let the mixture to cool them until 5 - 10 degree Celsius. If you have space, put it in your freezer, it will speed up the cooling process.
• When the mixture is cooled, fold in whipped cream and mix well. 
• Prepare your ice cream machine and pour the mixture in. Churn for maximum 45 minutes. 
• After you finish churning, move the ice cream mixture to an ice cream box and let it set in the freezer for another at least 4 hours.