Cookshop's Pastry Chef Emily Wallendjack created a vibrant dessert that is perfect for any season. This pudding is bursting with flavor- the warmth and familiarity of cinnamon from a winter's day, the nostalgia of pistachio reminiscent of cold ice cream melting down your hands on the hottest summer days meet to create a terrific taste sensation in an easy recipe that's all about great ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups Sicilian pistachios or 1¾ cups unsalted raw pistachios
- 5 whole sticks Saigon cinnamon or 8 regular cinnamon sticks
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch, lightly packed
- 1/3 cup Sicilian pistachios or unsalted raw pistachios
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 pinch salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1½ cups strawberry puree
- 1 cup blackberry puree
- 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
- ¼ cup fresh blackberries, cut in half
- 2 tablespoons fresh strawberries, diced small
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325ºF and place a rack in the center. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the pistachios and cinnamon in one layer on pan. Toast the pistachios and cinnamon lightly in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant. In a medium saucepot, cook the toasted pistachios, cinnamon, milk, cream, and vanilla bean over medium heat, until just steaming. In a large bowl, whisk the salt, sugar and cornstarch together. Set aside. Blend the hot liquid very lightly with a hand-held mixer and set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer and measure 4 cups of the liquid. Whisk the 4 cups of liquid into the salt, sugar, and cornstarch mixture, then return the entire mixture to the saucepot. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly. Once the pudding begins to boil, continue to cook for one minute. Pour the pudding into a container and place plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Preheat oven to 325ºF and place a rack in the center. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the pistachios in one layer on pan just as you did for the pudding. Toast the pistachios lightly in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water, and salt to a boil(100ºC). Place a candy thermometer in the sugar syrup. Once the sugar becomes thick and right before it caramelizes (150ºC), add the pistachios. Remove from stovetop and mix continuously until the pistachios separate and the sugar crystallizes and turns white. Pour the pistachios onto a tray to cool.
Bring all ingredients to a quick boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and continue to cook until the sauce becomes slightly thick, whisking occasionally to prevent the bottom from burning. Cool in an ice bath and refrigerate until ready to use.
Use a small cake ring to mold the blackberries. Remove the cake ring and place a scoop of the Pistachio Pudding on top of the blackberries. Sprinkle the strawberries and Candied Pistachios on top of the uncovered blackberries and sauce the plate with Berry Jus.
Notes
You can order Sicilian pistachios and Saigon cinnamon online. Always make sure your nuts are fresh. Nuts should never smell rancid. Using the freshest ingredients is the single most important factor to creating the best flavors. That included nuts and spices too. Get rid of the old ones. Six months and out. Some Chefs keep nuts in the refrigerator or freezer and most store expensive oils in the refrigerator unless they use it very quickly. Once the essentials oils in spices have broken down, it's shot. Tami Weiser, recipe editor