This year has absolutely flown by, accelerated, swept past me at a speed that has left me mostly breathless, wide-eyed, and entirely exhausted. I spent the better part of three weeks sick in bed, and am just now getting back on my feet, back into the kitchen, back into the swing of work and email and life. Back to busyness. Away from the stillness.
It was a lonely period, too. I live alone, and there were many, many moments when I wished there were someone in the living room, someone to bring me a glass of water or take my temperature or make sure I wasn’t going to die. I exaggerate, but the loneliness was—and is—real. And being sick, it’s magnified.
But throughout this period, I was also getting some of the kindest texts and check-ins from a group of folks that have, this year, become some of my best friends: My fellow bloggers. Indulge me for a moment as I wax poetic:
Alana tried to order me soup.
Molly offered to bring over more from Minnesota.
Beau offered to spoon feed me. (I accepted, but it was hard since he was in New Orleans.)
Brooke sent well wishes and pictures from our pet cow Maude in Portland.
Betty spent an hour with me over text trying to figure out a GIF problem. (Yup. Those exist.)
Stephanie’s gorgeous pics from Iceland healed me.
And Michelle talked (texted?) shop with me for hours one night, just ‘cuz.
Every night I went to bed feeling so, so grateful for this crazy community of artist-writer-foodmaker-blogger-baker-geniuses that populate my virtual and real world realities.
And then Molly and Alana invited me to a #marzipankiki!
Alana and I went on a mission to find marzipan and I discovered pistachio paste and decided I had to use it. With cardamom and rose, of course. And vanilla bean. In ice cream.
Because that’s how I roll. This ice cream is so much me. It’s close to what I’d actually taste like in ice cream form.* It even has a touch of chlorophyll in it to perk up the pistachio green.
*This has not been scientifically confirmed or denied.
Though it has a custard base (read, you’ve gotta work those yolks), it’s an easy ice cream to throw together—and that rose pistachio marzipan swirl with extra rose petals sprinkled on top? It’s the dreamiest thing on the block.
Lucky me: I’m finally better and can nibble on this while I dream about the other incredible marzipan treats that are part of this #marzipankiki!
Alana – Amaretti Morbidi (Marzipan Cookies)
Beau – Cardamom Skillingsboller
Betty – Sesame Pseudo Marzipan Rose Mini Cakes
Michelle – Swedish Marzipan Cream Buns (Semlor)
Molly – Macadamia Marzipan Balls
Stephanie – Marzipan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Happy #marzipankiki!
CARDAMOM PISTACHIO ICE CREAM WITH ROSE MARZIPAN SWIRL.
Ingredients
cardamom pistachio ice cream
- 5 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar divided
- 4 ounces sweetened pistachio paste
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- pinch sea salt
- 1 tablespoon unflavored liquid chlorophyll optional for color
adapted from Love & Olive Oil
- 3 ounces sweetened pistachio paste
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon rose water
- pinch ground cardamom
- dried rose petals for garnish
Instructions
- The night before you plan to make this, place the mixing bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer.
- The next day:
- In a large bowl, mix egg yolks, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, and 5 ½ ounces pistachio paste with an electric mixer until smooth.
- In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine milk, heavy whipping cream, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, ground cardamom and vanilla bean, and pinch of sea salt. Stir continually as it heats, until the sugar dissolves and steam rises. Do not boil.
- Remove from heat and add a ½ cup at a time to the pistachio paste egg mixture, beating until completely incorporated after each addition. When you’ve added at least half the pistachio paste egg mixture and it’s warm to the touch, add back into the milk and cream mixture.
- Return to medium-low heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens to coat the back of a spoon. If you notice clumps form, use a silicone spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan and then stir with a whisk.
- Once mixture has thickened, transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and cool in an ice bath or the refrigerator, at least three hours or overnight.
- When completely cool, whisk in 1 tablespoon chlorophyll if desired, and add to ice cream maker and process according to machine instructions.
- While ice cream is churning, combine ingredients for rose pistachio marzipan swirl in a small sauce pan. Melt over low heat, whisking to combine ingredients.and remove clumps. When smooth and melty, remove from heat and place in a small bowl to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if need be.
- Once ice cream is finished churning, layer half the ice cream in the bottom of a freezer-safe loaf pan or other quart-sized container. Drizzle half the cooled rose pistachio marzipan over the top of the ice cream and use a knife or chopstick to draw long lines into the ice cream, creating a swirl. Sprinkle a teaspoon or two of dried rose petals in and swirl again. Add the remaining ice cream, and top with the remaining rose pistachio marzipan swirl. Sprinkle with more rose petals, and swirl again. Add a finishing touch of rose petals, and place in freezer to freeze at least 6 hours or overnight.
