This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
This easy homemade pistachio cream is the most delicious spread made with just 5 ingredients. A delicious a blend of pistachios, white chocolate and milk. Italian Pistachio cream, or Crema al Pistacchio is not only delicious but it’s incredibly simple to make at home. I think it tastes even better than the stuff you can buy in the shops! It’s simple and delicious.
Use this simple to make pistachio cream to fill decadent French Toast, add to buttercream icing, use it in cheesecakes or simply spread on hot toast.
Pistachio cream is so good in so many ways. I love these pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants. Almost so decadent they could be pudding rather than brunch and they are both delicious recipes. You can kind of use this creamy Italian pistachio spread in the same way you would Nutella. It would also be incredible swirled into some softly whipped cream and sandwiched between two chocolate cake rounds. I like to use it in a pistachio pavlova too. I add finely chopped pistachio to the meringue and then fold the pistachio cream through whipped double cream to layer it on. The list is endless!
If you haven’t tried Pistachio cream before, or Crema al Pistacchio as it’s known in Italy, you are in for a treat! It’s creamy and sweet with a hint of nuttiness. It’s honestly so so good. And if you haven’t tried making it before let me show you how simple it is to make at home.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- It’s like Nutella’s sophisticated older sister, and a perfect addition to so many breakfasts and puddings
- Since it’s real pistachio, it has a great nutty flavour that isn’t overpowered by the other ingredients.
- It means you can make my pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants, both show-stopping brunch options.
Ingredients
Pistachios: buy shelled if you can as it will save you shelling yourself. They don’t need to be salted or roasted.
Whole milk: semi-skimmed would work but I am of the belief in a recipe like this that if you’re going to be making something very indulgent like this, you might as well go the full way and use whole milk.
Salted butter: if you only have unsalted, use that but add a pinch of salt alongside.
White chocolate: try to buy good-quality white chocolate with a good amount of cocoa butter rather than just sugar. As this is quite sweet anyway and you don’t want it overwhelmingly sweet.
Icing sugar: to the American readers, powdered sugar. You only need 1 tablespoon.
See recipe card for the exact recipe with a full list of ingredients and measurements
Substitutions and Variations:
Icing sugar: since you only need one tablespoon, I can understand not wanting to buy a whole bag for this purpose. If needed, just add an extra 20g or so of white chocolate. This will add to the sweetness.
Here’s how to make Pistachio Cream
Here’s a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe below for detailed instructions.
ONE: Boil the pistachios for a few minutes to soften them. Then drain and tip onto a clean tea towel to dry.
TWO: Then use the tea towel to rub the pistachios to loosen the skins. You want to separate the pistachios from the skins. Once you’re done, pop the pistachios into a food processor and discard the skins.
THREE: Add icing sugar and just a splash of milk, then blitz well until smooth. Transfer to a blender when it’s a thick paste.
FOUR: Melt the white chocolate, butter and milk together in a saucepan over low heat.
FIVE: Once smooth and melted, remove the melted chocolate from heat and add to a blender.
SIX: Blend in the blender until totally glossy and smooth. Done!
Cooking Tips
Making it smooth: You just need a strong food processor and blender. The reason you use both is that the food processor chops the pistachios finely whereas a blender will get the paste super smooth once you add the melted white chocolate. This means you can achieve the perfect final texture. If you only have one and not both, it will work but you might need to be more patient with the final texture.
Using a food processor/blender: Since your blender/food processor will be working hard here to make the final process smooth, make sure to give the processor breaks in between blending, using a spoon to stir the contents around and scrape down the sides. This is especially important if the blender starts warming up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common in Italy, pistachio cream is a sweetened pistachio paste that you can use in a multitude of ways. I usually can find it in some supermarkets these days in the UK and it’s easy to order online but it’s also surprisingly easy to make too.
Pistachio cream is sweetened, here with sugar and blended with white chocolate. Pistachio butter is more like peanut butter, it is blended nuts with perhaps some oil and some salt. You can find this both sweetened and unsweetened, depending on the brand.
The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for 2 weeks in an airtight jar or container.
I haven’t tried freezing it so I can’t be completely sure but it should work. The milk could turn a little grainy once you defrost. If this happens, I think you could fix it by running it through the blender again. If in doubt, add a bit more melted white chocolate mix and that should fix it!
Yes, you can do. It will just lean into the salty, sweet combination. Use unsalted butter in the cream to balance it out. Taste it once done and you can always add a pinch of salt if it needs any more.
Other recipes you might like to try
If you love pistachio cream, I have also a recipe for pistachio cream French toast and pistachio croissants. They are both so good for an impressive brunch. If you love pistachio, this pistachio tiramisu will be your dream dessert. Let me know what you think once you try it!
For other brunch ideas, my Mango Pancakes are a winner. They are fresh and light, so definitely different to this recipe, but so good. Or this Hong Kong Style French Toast is made with chocolate and hazelnuts. It’s delicious and really a treat.
Lunch Recipes
Torta Pasqualina
Easy Dessert Recipes
Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding
Easy Baking Recipes
Mini Egg Cookies
Easy Dinner Recipes
Asparagus Risotto (Risotto Agli Asparagi)
Made this recipe and loved it?
I would love love LOVE if you could leave a review in the comments… I love hearing what you thought, any changes you made, the stories behind what made you try my recipes. Also, if you share a photo on Instagram, please tag me @desertislanddishes, it makes my day to see you making my creations!
Pistachio Cream
Ingredients
- 140 g shelled pistachios, you can shell them yourself but it takes a while so buy shelled if you can!
- 180 ml whole milk
- 25 g salted butter
- 100 g white chocolate
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- I always start by boiling the shelled pistachios for 3 minutes to soften them. Then drain them and set them on a clean tea towel to dry.
- Then use the tea towel to rub the pistachios to loosen the skins. You want to separate the pistachios from the skins. This step does take a little time but I promise it’s worth it. If you don’t remove the skins your pistachio cream won’t be lovely and vibrant green and will taste slightly more bitter, not in a bad way, it’s still good! But this way is really really good. Once you’re done, pop the pistachios into a food processor and discard the skins.
- Add the icing sugar and just a splash of milk. Blend for around 5 minutes until the pistachios turn into a smooth pistachio paste, scraping down the sides every minute or so. Be patient – to begin with, it will resemble breadcrumbs but eventually, it will turn into a paste – this is important.
- Meanwhile, pop the butter, white chocolate and the rest of the milk into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Allow to melt slowly, stirring every now and then. Once melted, remove from the heat.
- Scoop the pistachio paste into a blender and then pour in the melted white chocolate mixture. Blend until extra creamy and silky smooth.
This is not about the recipe, but your answer. Pistachio butter CAN also be sweet. I have a 2.2 lb tub of Sweet Gusto Etna Pistachio Butter from Italy (using pistachio’s from Brontë) that I bought on Amazon – took six weeks to arrive, but worth it every penny!
If I can only get roasted & salted pistachios would it still work, but change the butter to unsalted maybe?
I haven’t tried it with roasted & salted pistachios so can’t say 100%, but there is no reason why it shouldn’t work. It will just lean into the salty, sweet combination. Use unsalted butter I agree – taste it once done and you can always add a pinch of salt if it needs any more. Let us know how it goes!
Used roasted/salted pistachios and unsalted butter, added a touch of salt and it’s pretty perfect! First use, I froze a layer (8.5oz / 240g) of it to put in the middle of some brownies
How long will this last in the fridge? Can it be frozen?
Hi Ella, it will last for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. I haven’t tried freezing it so I can’t be 100% sure but I think it should work. The milk could turn a little grainy once you defrost, that’s my only concern. If this happens, I think you could fix it by running it through the blender again. If in doubt, add a bit more melted white chocolate mix and that should fix it!
Have you refrigerated your pistachio cream? Does it solidify in the fridge like a Nutella spread? I personally love the texture of a cold, firmer spread and dollop spoons of it everywhere, on brioche, waffles, ice cream, directly in my mouth etc.
I’ve been making my own Gianduja, mixed variations of milk and dark chocolate, and I’ve only added olive oil to liquefy it down. Perhaps I could try doing that in place of milk in your recipe but only after trying out yours as is 🙂
It does! It goes a little firmer because of the white chocolate solidifying x
This is delicious! Just made it. Not too sweet, perfect on sourdough toast!
How much does this make? It says one large jar but that could mean anything? Looks delicious too!
You’re right! It makes enough to fill a standard Jam Jar that fits about 280ml xx
I made this and it came out delicious. Thank you so much
Gonna use it as a macron filling
I was in a bit of a desperate situation as the store I usually buy pistachio cream from had sold out. Found this recipe and after testing it I don’t think I’ll ever be using store bought again – this recipe was excellent! My advice is to follow it exactly to the word of the instructions, as every step here is key in producing an exquisite end product. Thank you for this recipe!
Can’t wait to make this as pistachio cream on amazon is soooo expensive! Instead of milk, could I use double or single cream?
My little girl is turning 1 next month and having a family party to celebrate. If this receipe goes well, I am hoping to make little treats and maybe a cake with the pistachio cream.
Ooh do you know, I haven’t tested it with cream so I couldn’t say for sure. It’s perfect with the milk, butter, white chocolate and icing sugar combo. If you do want to try using cream I would use single and not double and maybe miss out the butter. But I haven’t tested it so I cant tell you and would hate for it not to work. If you can, do try it as it’s written as it’s really good! xxx
What brand of what chocolate should I use? Are Lindt bars ok?
Yes! I am not very loyal to white chocolate brands so tend to use what I can find. I find a good rule of thumb is if it is nice enough to eat, it’s nice enough to cook with, and vice versa if it doesn’t taste great when you have a bite, try to avoid using it x
Made this pistachio cream recipe, super easy and so delicious.
So pleased, thank you for letting me know x