Asian Recipes
The cardamom and pistachios are the supporting acts, if you will. The ice cream could definitely hold its own without them, but they work so harmoniously together. Plus, anything with cardamom makes me swoon. Probably my favorite spice ever.
Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more of it around here come fall. I’m {not} sorry.
Saffron is a difficult spice to describe–a fact that I’ve become increasingly more aware of since I’ve written this post. This is pretty ironic considering I wrote a five-page paper about it whilst in culinary school.
A lot of people describe saffron as “hay-like,” earthy, and bitter–none of which sound all that appealing (at least, to me). Pretty unfortunate considering just how amazing of a spice it truly is.
Here’s a fun factoid instead! Since each saffron flower can only produce about twelve saffron stigmas, it takes roughly 50,000-75,000 saffron blossoms to produce roughly a pound of dried saffron threads. Did I mention that all of this is harvested by hand? Hence, the hefty price tag.
This lovely saffron and cardamom ice cream was discovered in a August 1993 issue of Gourmet magazine–not to mention, given a prime spot on the very front cover (second from the left). The recipe was part and parcel of a feature on uncommon ice cream flavors with an exotic touch.
But the issue was now more than twenty-years old. How exotic could they really be? Especially in a day and age where jalapenos were considered hard-to-find. As I was turning the pages, I was expecting to discover something pretty comical (vanilla?). Instead, I was totally surprised to discover all sorts of crazy flavors in there, including a black pepper ice cream that involved two types of peppercorns, allspice, and balsamic vinegar!
But in the end, I couldn’t help but be drawn to this saffron and cardamom creation. Perhaps it was the cardamom or the fact that I already had all the ingredients on hand (except the cream + milk –> go figure).
Either way, I knew I had to make it. I ended up upping the saffron amount just a tad, halving the recipe, and increasing the amount of pistachios. I’m happy to report that I absolutely loved it–and here’s hoping you do to! Enjoy.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
4 whole large egg yolks
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup shelled pistachio meat
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine milk, cream, and saffron in a small saucepan. Bring to mixture just to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and allow to sit, covered, for at least one hour (or alternatively, overnight in the fridge).
2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until well combined. Meanwhile, bring milk/cream mixture back to a boil.
3. Add the saffron milk/cream mixture slowly into the eggs, whisking constantly with one hand, to temper.
4. Place this mixture into a medium saucepan and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until it reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The mixture should leave a nice thin coating on the back of a spoon.
5. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-meshed sieve into a shallow, wide heatproof bowl, preferably over an ice bath Stir in the ground cardamom and cool completely.
Freeze the mixture in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturers directions.
In the last few minutes or so of churning, when the ice cream is almost finished, add the pistachios.
This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Abeautifulplate.com/. Thanks so much!
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