Pistachio pastry cream is the perfect sweet custardy sauce for people who absolutely love pistachio flavored everything.
I have loved pistachio flavor for as long as I can remember. There's nothing like a cool pistachio gelato on a hot day. Or a sprinkle of ground pistachio on your roast or over your pasta. It's the nut that keeps on giving.
Before I dive into this recipe I just want to make a note on flavoring so there's no confusion on why there's almond extract in the ingredients.
Important note: pistachio nuts don't contain strong flavor compounds so it's difficult to find a good natural pistachio extract. What most of us recognize as pistachio flavoring is actually all or part almond.
You might find pistachio extracts on Amazon etc. but if you read the reviews (like for this one) and look closely at the ingredients, the pistachio flavor is actually almond or something else.
My personal belief is that it's better to use a high quality natural almond extract instead of a synthetic pistachio.
If you like you can use pistachio extract instead - for reference see taste test of 9 different pistachio extracts (spoiler: the winner is almond flavored).
The overall effect of using almond extract combined with ground pistachio nuts (i.e. pistachio cream) is that the extract enhances the pistachio flavor if you use it sparingly.
When the almond extract mixes with the nutty richness of the pistachio it produce a slightly different flavor than if you were to use almond nuts.
Anyway, point is this is just being noted so you aren't wondering why there is almond and not pistachio flavor.
Speaking of pistachio, if you love it as much as I do you may also like these:
- Puff Pastry Baklava with Pistachio
- Easy Pistachio Cream Puffs with Chocolate Glaze
- Crispy Pork Belly Porchetta with Pistachio, Parmesan & Fennel Seed
- Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Pistachio & Red Pepper
Ingredients
Pistachio pastry cream ingredients
- Full fat (whole) milk
- Butter (unsalted)
- Sugar
- Egg yolks
- Cornstarch: Be sure to use cornstarch, which is a very fine white powder. Corn flour is yellow and grainier. The naming conventions can also depend on where you live so use your best judgment.
- Pistachio paste: There's about a quarter cup pistachio paste in this recipe. You can make your own or use a high quality brand. You can also use more if you like but it is heavier than the pastry cream and can change the texture. The pistachio paste I used is an Italian brand from an Italian deli in my neighbourhood. The same product goes by many names - it can be that it's called pistachio butter or pistachio cream etc. There are many different brands you can choose from but in general it should just be ground pistachios, oil, sugar and salt.
- Vanilla bean paste: I love Nielsen Massey Vanilla Bean Paste but a regular vanilla bean will also do or substitute the same amount of vanilla extract.
- Pinch of salt: This is a personal preference - I always add a pinch of salt to sweet for flavor balance. You can omit if you prefer.
- Almond extract or pistachio extract: This is optional so feel free to skip it if you just want the pistachio paste as flavoring. See my note in the intro about using almond extract for pistachio flavor. I really like the Nielsen Massey Almond Extract - a little goes a long way. Be very careful not to overdo it or it can taste very bad.
Instructions
How to make pastry cream
Equipment
You will need the following:
- A saucepan
- A wire whisk
- A heat-safe bowl (stainless steel, ceramic etc.)
- A small ladle or heat-safe measuring cup (optional but helpful)
Steps
It's crazy how easy it is to make pastry cream.
Add the vanilla to the milk. Scrape in a vanilla bean or add vanilla bean paste.) Then heat the milk over medium until steaming and lightly simmering.
While the milk is heating, whisk up the sugar with the egg yolks in the bowl until they lighten in color then whisk in the cornstarch and salt until smooth.
Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture a little at a time (using a small ladle or large spoon) while whisking the whole time.
You may need an extra hand to hold the bowl steady or put a damp kitchen towel underneath it. Pour the hot milk in first a ¼ cup or ladle at a time until half of the milk is in, then the rest can go in all at once.
When all the milk is in the bowl, pour all the contents back in the saucepan and put back on the stovetop over medium heat.
Whisk and heat until it thickens -it should only take a few minutes.
When thickened to the consistency of Greek yogurt, remove from heat and stir in the butter, pistachio paste and almond extract.
Serving Suggestion
Pistachio pastry cream can be used for a lot of different types of French pastries like eclairs or pistachio cream puffs.
You could also take it in a different direction and make pistachio cream bougatsa or pistachio mille-feuille.
Related
Looking for more recipe inspiration? Maybe you'll like one of these:
Recipe
Pistachio Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 500 ml milk 2.12 cups
- 100 grams egg yolks about 7 egg yolks
- 100 grams white sugar half a cup
- 30 grams cornstarch 3 tablespoons
- 65 grams unsalted butter half a stick plus 1 tablespoon
- 35 grams pistachio paste
- 2 grams salt a dash
- 0.25 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 scraped vanilla bean
Equipment
- small saucepan
- whisk
Instructions
- Add the egg yolks and sugar to a bowl and whisk until pale in color.
- Whisk in the cornstarch and salt until incorporated.
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it's steaming and lightly foaming.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and immediately use a spoon or small ladle to pour a few tablespoons at a time of the hot milk over the egg mixture, whisking all the while.
- Continue adding milk until at least half of the milk has been added then the contents of the bowl can go back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
- Put the saucepan back on the stovetop over medium heat and whisk constantly until it thickens into a thick cream (it should take about 3-4 minutes).
- Once the cream has thickened, remove from heat and immediately stir in the butter, pistachio paste and almond extract.
- Use the pistachio pastry cream right away or store for future use (see recipe post for details on storing).
ziltch
pistachio paste isn’t almond paste
make your own from scratch
Cristina
Hi there. There is no almond paste in this recipe. The recipe notes that there aren't good options for natural pistachio extract and so almond extract is a good substitution to enhance the pistachio flavor. You can also use pistachio extract if you have one you like. Likewise, you can certainly make your own pistachio paste for this recipe if you like.