Creamy wasabi ice cream with vanilla and pistachio - my unique recipe inspired by a Parisian chef and from the matching wasabi macarons from the Mad About Macarons recipe book. Be warned: this is compulsive eating at its best. Coconut lovers will adore this too. Serve with fresh strawberries for the ultimate treat.
Is There Such a Thing as Wasabi Ice Cream?
I first tasted wasabi ice cream in Paris and couldn't believe this actually exists.
One of my favourite French chefs is William Ledeuil of Ze Kitchen Galérie in Paris (and the little brother, KGB). He makes the most incredible dessert consisting of a white chocolate and wasabi ice cream and serves it with a pistachio and green tea sauce, fresh strawberries and either crumble or wasabi meringues.
The flavour combination is simply incredible! If you haven't yet tried it and are even a bit sceptical, then please try this.
What Does It Taste Like?
So back home, I put the flavours together into just one ice cream to make it simpler to make. After all, I'm a lazy gourmet. I replaced the white chocolate with egg yolks (as macaronivores, we need the whites for macarons!) The result is a gluten free dessert, full of interesting flavours.
Is it spicy? It certainly is but the beauty of serving as part of creamy ice cream with other ingredients of pistachios, vanilla and coconut is that you get all the flavours in one.
The ultimate taste sensation is that the heat of the spicy wasabi initially lasts for a couple of seconds then the sweetness of the other ingredients calms it down.
The result is a delightful surprise, tasting each individual ingredient.
What do You Eat Wasabi Ice Cream With?
- If you feel like a double intriguing wasabi wham - wasabi ice cream is absolutely delicious with my Pistachio, White Chocolate and Wasabi macarons (recipe on p65 of Mad About Macarons.)
- Like with all ice creams, we also love to serve wasabi ice cream with French almond or sesame tuiles for a bit of crunch. Also super with financier cakes.
- Otherwise, the ultimate treat is a scoop served on top of fresh strawberries, just as chef Ledeuil does in his Parisian restaurant. It's bliss.
Check out the recipe index, including more recipes using egg yolks and ice cream recipes
Wasabi Ice Cream with Vanilla and Pistachio
Equipment
- ice cream maker or attachement
Ingredients
- 200 ml / 7 fl oz coconut milk small carton
- 300 ml / 11 fl oz whole milk
- 50 g / 1.75 oz ground pistachios
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 teaspoon pistachio extract
- pinch green and brown food colouring 3 parts green, 1 brown
- 5 egg yolks
- 100 g / 3.5 oz caster sugar
- 4 teaspoon powdered milk
- 15 g / 0.5 oz wasabi paste
Instructions
- Heat the milk, coconut milk and pistachios in a heavy-based pan with the vanilla pod which is cut in two lengthways. Bring to the boil, and turn off the heat for the vanilla to infuse in the creamy milk for 5-10 minutes.
- Cream together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the powdered milk, wasabi paste and pistachio extract and mix well.
- Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to the yolk cream. Discard the pod from the warmed coconut-milk and add the food colouring.
- Pour the creamy milk onto the egg mixture whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the pan on a medium heat, whisking constantly until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Set the mixture aside to cool.
- Once cool, place in the fridge for 1-2 hours before pouring into an ice cream maker to churn according to your ice cream maker.
Notes
Jennifer Cote
Jill- this sounds awesome! How fun- a cold ice cream with a little heat. Can't wait to try it!! Thanks for posting. Oh, and congrats on making the Top Nine 🙂
Jill
Thanks, Jennifer. Let me know how you get on - it's a family favourite and great for serving up something a bit different with friends without any effort on the night.
June
hi, just wanted to clarify the wasabi...did you mean the green paste from a tube or wasabi powder?
also, at what point is the wasabi added?
can't wait to try this out. thanks for the wonderful idea!
Jill
Hi June,
Thanks so much for pointing this out! I've updated the recipe to be precise; it's wasabi paste and I add it at the end of step 2. Enjoy!
Jacqueline @How to be a Gourmand
Bravo for trying something different! I love all these ingredients and would try it 🙂 After all chocolate and chilli works so why not wasabi pistachio and vanilla?
Jill
I hope you do try it, Jacqueline; it's definitely a talking point and full of flavour (not just the wasabi...)
Laz
I am not a big fan of wasabi and I would dig into this lovely creation.
Well played with the heat.
Bravo!
Jill
I'll be honest: I tried a first batch which was 5g too much. The kids and I loved it but French hubby thought it was a bit too nose-tingling. This is just right and the sweetness helps it along nicely with a balance of flavours. Thanks, Laz.
michelle
What gorgeous colors! Subscribed so that even without Buzz, I won't miss a post!
Jill
Merci - hope you manage to try it, Michelle.
Cucina49
This ice cream looks amazing! For what it's worth, it's gray and rainy here too and we actually DID put the heat on yesterday.
Jill
Here's hoping that you've had some sunshine in the meantime!
Maureen
Just thinking of wasabi ice cream makes my tongue hurt 🙂 It looks wonderful though.
Jill
This doesn't hurt at all. Honest!
Nami | Just One Cookbook
I could be your only Japanese friend who doesn't eat wasabi, yet pistachio and vanilla ice cream sounds heavenly! 😉
Jill
Go on, Nami. Have you tried it with the wasabi. This could change your whole perception of the stuff in a sweet context.
All That I'm Eating
This sounds so so so good. I'd love a big bowl of this sat outside in the sunshine. The addition of wasabi is really interesting too!
Jill
Sounds good if we can always have it outside in the sun but without it, the heat definitely helps.
Lora
What an absolutely gorgeous way to beat the heat. I love the flavors. Wow!
Jill
Lora, you're beating the heat; we're trying to create it here with these sorry temps.
DB-The Foodie Stuntman
Enjoy your weather!
Samantha
This flavor combination has me seriously intrigued. Thank you for the inspiration and gorgeous photos!
Jill
Well good, I'm so glad I've intrigued someone! Appreciated.
Liz
Jill, I love how you find these unusual flavor combinations and turn them into marvelous desserts (macarons included!). Gosh, I wish you could send some of your torrential rains our way...I'd be happy to share the heat!
Jill
Gosh, thanks Liz. Hope you had some of the rains in the end. We had a month of sunshine and now it's back to ze rain. Time to make another batch, perhaps?
Amy @ fragrantvanillacake
Jill, what a fabulous ice cream flavor! The color is lovely as well with the pale green, and it must have such a delicious flavor with the combination of nutty pistachios and spicy wasabi! Yum! You are so creative :)!
Jill
As I said, Amy, I'm just a lazy gourmet that couldn't be bothered trying to do a fancy dessert in different stages so this was easier and seriously good.
Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen
Jill, I love how you've put a hot flavour into a ice cream - Lickable photos too.
Jill
Lickable? Hester, I was hoping I could do a scratch and sniff but it's not good for the computer.