Jeni's Splendid Pistachio Ice cream Recipe - Homemade Artisan Ice cream!

Growing up in India my favourite brands of ice cream was Vadilal's which had fresh fruit bits, the mother dairy ice cream of Delhi which is very rich and creamy, and the now no longer available Dollop's which had a very interesting Gorilla vanilla that I still remember the taste of. I also LOVE Naturals and their pink gauva ice cream is JUST like biting into a frozen yet smooth luscious guava. I've heard that their Tender coconut ice cream is absolutely divine and I can't wait to taste it.I remember visiting a distant relative's Joy ice cream franchise and seeing a long ribbon of vanilla ice cream fall into a vat and thinking he must be the luckiest person on earth to have all that ice cream right in his back yard.

Coming to the US, I have fallen in love with Haagen-daz, though Ben and Jerry's was a bit of a disappointment.I have heard that the Bi-rite creamery in SFO is really good so that's next on my list.
The best ice cream I ever ate however is all the way on the other side of the country but then, Jeni's Splendid Ice creams are worth travelling all the way to Columbus for. Or you could mail order it. I choose option 3- Make some!

Jeni Britton is an Ice cream Goddess and makes artisan ice cream which has one simple secret- She doesn't use eggs so that nothing interferes with the delicious flavor of the cream and flavors as innovative as goat's cheese with roasted cherries, salty caramel to chocolate cayenne. She uses cornstarch to thicken the base, as well as cream cheese to add some scoopability.
I always hated pista ice cream. Usually it is bright gloopy green mess. Not so at Jeni's. Here is what it looks like!
Before you make it, you might want to read some tips from Jeni here
If you don't have an ice cream maker, use this method to make it without one

Jeni's Splendid Pistachio Ice cream

Recipe Source: Jeni Britton's "How to make Ice cream like an Artisan"

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 tablespoons)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup toasted pistachios, very finely ground
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt ( I didn't have any so I skipped this. Don't add regular table salt as this could make it too salty)

Method

• In a cup, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.
• In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
• Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the pistachios, almond extract and salt. Set the bowl in another bowl filled  with ice water and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes. Jeni suggests keeping the base in the fridge overnight to develop the flavours, but you don't have to.
• Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker, pressing the pistachios with the back of a spoon to extract all the flavor, and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

I used my cuisinart flavor duo ice cream maker and after about 20-30 mins the ice cream was creamy and had a soft serve consistency-good enough to eat right away.
However to make it firmer like proper ice cream:
Pack the ice cream into a plastic container (I used a zip lock freezer safe container)
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Put the container in a plastic bag and freeze the pistachio ice cream until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.
It might be really hard after, so leave for about 5 mins before serving so that it become a tad bit softer.
Here is a picture of the ice cream straight out of the machine where it has a soft-serve consistency. The pictures at the beginning of the post are after it has been frozen overnight.

Verdict: This is the very first time I'm making ice cream at home and I was shocked frankly, at how good this came out! So forgive me for gushing. It was delicious, the flavour of the cream and pistachio really came out wonderfully. I didn't have corn syrup so I used some Jemima's pancake syrup since it listed corn syrup as one of the main ingredients! Yes I know, substitution queen-that's me. However this made my ice cream a tad bit too sweet, but that's all. Everything else about it is dreamy, creamy, glorious and I am not ashamed to admit- I licked my bowl clean!

Variation: NExt time I make this, I will definitely try adding a little rosewater and drizzle on some honey :) 

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