Saffron Ice Cream - Akbar Mashti
This saffron ice cream combines rosewater, saffron and pistachios to create the fragrant and irresistible Akbar Mashti, a classic Persian treat that's easy to make at home!
Ingredients
- 1½ cups - heavy cream (354ml)
- 1½ cups - whole milk (354ml)
- 9 tablespoon - granulated white sugar (112g)
- 2 - egg yolks
- 2 tablespoon - skim milk powder (12g)
- ¼ teaspoon - saffron
- 2.5 tablespoon - rose water
- ¼ teaspoon - salt
Instructions
- Grind the saffron in a mortar and pestle with about 1 teaspoon of the sugar until it becomes a really fine powder. Add in 2 teaspoon of warm water and let that steep for 5-10 minutes. You can also grind the saffron in a coffee grinder or even crush the threads and sugar with your fingers, until it's close to a powder consistency.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar until light and pale. The sugar should mostly be dissolved.
- In a saucepan, combine the cream, milk, skim milk powder, salt and half of the sugar. Heat the mixture on medium-low heat until it's hot. Don't bring to a boil.
- Slowly add about half a cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. You don't want the eggs to clump into scramble, so whisk the mixture as you add the hot milk. Whisk in another half cup of the hot milk. Stir in the saffron and rose water.
- Add the whole mixture back to the saucepan and place on medium-low heat. Slowly heat it up to about 175°F (79.4℃) while stirring occasionally. The temp should be between 170℉-180℉ (76℃-82℃). Don't go higher than that.
- Prepare a large bowl with an ice bath and place the sauce pan in it. Stir and cool down the ice cream base to room temperature (about 50F° or 10℃).
- Once cool, place in an airtight container or a leak proof re-sealable bag and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. This helps the base chill further and develop more flavour. The temperature should be around 34°F or 1°C.
- Set up your ice cream machine according to manufacturers instructions and click start. Pour in the ice cream base as it's spinning.
- Churn for about 20 minutes, and then add in the chopped pistachios. Continue churning for another 5-10 minutes - the ice cream will be thick, stiff and kind of dry looking- the surface shouldn't be too shiny. The temperature should be about -6℃ to -10℃ (21.2°F — 14°F). It'll be kind of like a soft serve consistency.
- Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container and sprinkle on some more pistachios. Freeze for 4 hours to harden.
- Scoop, serve and enjoy!
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