Pistachio custard is sweet, nutty, and creamy. If you like pistachios, this is going to be a great addition to your dessert recipes!
This custard is inspired by Italian pastry cream and is made with simple ingredients and unsalted pistachio nuts.
The richness of pistachios makes this recipe burst with flavor with very few ingredients, and it’s naturally vegan.
Table of Contents
Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet.
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Tips on making an excellent pistachio custard
- Learn the basics of vegan custard: To learn more about how to make the perfect vegan custard, check out our vegan custard guide.
- Unsalted, unshelled pistachios: you’ll get the best result using unsalted and peeled pistachios. The thin shell around the pistachios will ruin the texture of the custard.
- Sift the pistachio milk. This is especially important if you don’t have a powerful blender or if your pistachios are covered by a thin brown shell.
- Toast the pistachios: to bring out the oils and flavor of the pistachio nuts, we toast them lightly on a pan before blending them.
- Cool down bain-marie: if you are making your custard in advance, the best way to cool it down is bain-marie to prevent the thin skin layer on top.
Storage
You can store the custard in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
Let it cool down, then cover it with reusable wrap, and make sure the wrap touches the surface of the custard to prevent a thin crust from forming.
You can reheat the custard on low heat by adding a dash of plant milk while stirring.
We do not recommend freezing the custard unless you want to make ice cream out of it.
It is possible that during the cooling process, the custard will dry out on the surface, creating a thin skin that will result in annoying lumps.
If you are annoyed by the lumps, you can always blend the custard with a hand blender. We tried, and it works.
Variations
Hazelnut custard
You can quickly turn this pistachio custard into a hazelnut custard by replacing the pistachios with hazelnuts.
More custard recipes
Desserts
Vegan Custard (Pastry Cream)
Desserts
Chocolate Custard
Desserts
Vegan Lemon Curd
Desserts
Coffee Custard
Recipes with custard
- Vegan brioche rolls with custard
- Torta della nonna
- Vegan lemon bars
- Vegan coffee cake
- Vegan apple cake
- Strawberry tart
- Vegan lemon tart
- Kiwi tart
- Fruit tart
- Vegan croissants
Pistachio Cream Recipe
Equipment
- Whisk
- Blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup pistachios unsalted and peeled
- 2 cups plant milk soy, almond, rice, or oat milk
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Toast ½ cup pistachios on a pan for 1 to 2 minutes, moving them around often.
- To a blender, add 2 cups plant milk⅓ cup sugar, and the toasted pistachios. Blend at full speed until the pistachios are fully dissolved in the liquid.
- In a pot, off the heat, add 4 tablespoons cornstarch and the blended pistachio milk.Whisk until the cornstarch is fully dissolved in the milk.TIP: For the smoothest custard, pass the pistachio milk through a sieve before adding it to the pot.
- Bring the pot to a boil, lower the heat, and stir continuously until the liquid thickens into a creamy custard. It can take between 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the quantities.
- When you have almost reached the consistency you like, take the pot off the heat and keep stirring for another minute. The custard will keep thickening while off the heat. TIP: To check if your custard is ready, take a wooden or silicone spatula, dip it in the custard, then run a finger through it. If the spatula stays clean, the custard is ready.
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked this pistachio custard, you might also like:
Delicious creamy custard. The recipe is very easy, perfect for beginners
The taste of the corn starch is too strong…. still has a beautiful colour, so to stop it from going to waste i will use it in a tart base under some raspberries to overpower the flavour
Hi Nico & Louise. I am going to make a vegan pistachio tiramasu for Christmas desert. Your recipe for Pistachio cream/custard looks yummy. I will let you know how it turns out. Many thanks Jacque
Fantastic, Jacque! We’re curious to hear, do let us know how it turns out 🙂
Kindest,
Louise
Hi! What type of sugar and cornstarch do you use? 🙂
Hi Han,
I use either white sugar or brown sugar for our custards.
For cornstarch, I use a generic one, often our local supermarket brand.
I hope this helps 🙂
Have a great day!
Nico
Hi! Would this work with regular cows milk?
Thanks
Hi Aiza,
I haven’t tried it, but my guess is that it would work! I would love to hear how it turns out if you try.
Kindest,
Louise
So delicious, light and tasty! And not to mention easy and quick to make. Thank you for sharing 😊
Hi Imani,
That’s wonderful, I’m super happy you liked the custard.
Kindest,
Louise
Hey, will this recipe work with coconut milk instead of the one mentioned?
Hey there, yes it also works with coconut milk 🙂
Kindest,
Louise
This was so easy to make. I did make only 1/2 the recipe and used a coffee grinder to blend the pistachios before adding to the plant milk.
Hi Patty, thank you for commenting! That’s a great tip with the coffee grinder, we will use that next time. Have a wonderful Sunday! Kindest, Louise