Wednesday 8 June 2016

Bastani Ice Cream


Blogging friend Linda mentioned Persian Bastani ice cream to me, which I had never heard of before. The flavour comes from a combination of rose water, saffron, and pistachio nuts, which I added to my own ice cream recipe.
Ingredients  
3 teaspoons of rose water essence (mine is concentrated)
15/20 Saffron threads
1 handful chopped unsalted pistachio nuts,
300 grams condensed milk
300 grams creme fresh
300 grams Greek yogurt
yield 1 litre
Soak the saffron threads, which I cut into smaller pieces, in a little warm milk, stir and leave in fridge to chill before adding to the ice cream mixture.
Mix together the condensed milk, creme fresh, and Greek yogurt. Using yogurt and creme fresh rather than double cream reduces the sweetness of the condensed milk. Add the saffron milk including threads, the rose water, and chopped nuts. If using a 'concentrated rose water extract' carefully add one teaspoonful at first, taste and then use your own judgement - some rose waters are less concentrated and may require as much as two or even three tablespoonful. You want subtle background notes from the rose water. 
Pour all of the ingredients into your ice cream machine and churn as per instructions. 
Can also be made by putting straight into the freezer and churning with a spoon from time to time. 
It's delicious
I love making and trying out new flavours of ice cream.
You can find my moreish Apricot and Amaretto ice cream here, and our all time favourite, Damson and Sloe Gin ice cream here.

48 comments:

  1. Yum. Perfect for this lovely warm weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Preferably sitting beneath a rose bower!

      Delete
  2. That does look good - not the best ice cream weather here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds and looks delicious.
    Never made home made icecream as yet. Always the first time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love home-made ice cream and this version sounds delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an interesting combination of flavours. I will have to dig out the ice cream machine while my grandsons are here and give this a try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love making ice cream - this is slightly exotic but in a nice way

      Delete
  6. Hello Rosemary, Quite exotic! I wonder if the perfume aspect is overwhelming--I might reduct the rosewater to a bare hint.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 3 teaspoons of rose water essence is used was much diluted by all of the other ingredients and does give just a pleasant hint - I wouldn't want it to be too perfumed either.

      Delete
  7. Now that looks delicious and perfect for warmer days ...

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Especially lovely to eat on a warm summer evening in the garden Jan.

      Delete
  8. Mmmh, mmh, mmh - we cry that instead of "yummy" - it sounds delicious!!! Will take my icecream-maker down -- it sounds very worthy of trying it. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you give it a try, I hope that you enjoy it Britta

      Delete
  9. I've never heard of this! Hmmm....we are having a tea party this weekend, maybe we should try it? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A tea party sounds lovely and ice cream would make the perfect accompaniment.

      Delete
  10. That icecream sounds very interesting with such an unusual combination. I love pistachio nuts and usung greek yogurt sounds more healthy. Sarah x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of ice cream recipes call for raw eggs which I don't fancy - the recipes that I have made are all minus eggs and taste just the same.

      Delete
  11. Oh my, how delicious looking. I'm not a big fan of ice cream, but I love trying new flavours and this one sounds like a winner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a touch of Arabian Nights in an ice cream

      Delete
  12. It sounds (and looks) delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Rosemary, I have all of the ingredients except for the saffron. I wonder if we can grow that certain crocus in our gardens.
    I can never decide which I like better, ice cream or chocolates. Your ice cream must taste delicious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Gina - Crocus sativus is very choosey about its environment - it is autumn flowering and takes nearly 200 flowers to produce a single gram. You can easily buy saffron on the internet if you just make sure that you get it from a reliable source.
      It is really not an essential ingredient in this ice cream, authentic, but not necessary.

      Delete
  14. Unusual ingredients. I have never used saffron.....and feel sure I would have to order it online as the tiny general stores here laughed at me when I asked for tumeric.. Pretty pictures. janey

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I mentioned to Gina it is not an essential ingredient in the ice cream - the addition of the rose water and pistachios would be sufficient.

      Delete
  15. Very colourful tableware let alone the exotic ingredients. We have travelled a long distance, ice cream wise, since the original Walls brown ice cream dished out in hospitals for children having their tonsils out( put me off ice cream for years that did :o) or that curiously insubstantial and strange tasting whipped material that topped cones from the ever humming large van that sold it.( Mr Whippy) Even back then as a kid I preferred the genuine Italian classic ices with the wide range of flavours and real fruit in them. Love your plate by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The mind boggles at brown ice cream! but then again I didn't have my tonsils out. I remember when we lived in Glasgow that there were little Italian cafes that sold their own homemade ice cream.
      The bowl is one I purchased from Turkey.

      Delete
  16. Hello, Rosemary. I saw other ice-cream, too. Looks like you enjoyed making, arranging, photographing, and eating ice cream. I like your arrangement of ice-cream on the table.

    Yoko

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Yoko - you are right - ever since I bought a little ice cream maker last year and realised just how easy it is to do and make using your own delicious flavours. It is not something that I make very often, but a treat during the warmer months and when visitors come.

      Delete
  17. Dearest Rosemary,
    Love those exotic Persian recipes that use rose water and saffron.
    For our strict health diets I would have to adapt the use of cream, by substituting it with e.g. coconut cream but still it will make a very lovely dessert!
    Hugs and happy weekend.
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mariette - I think that coconut would harmonise very nicely with the other flavours used.

      Delete
  18. Dear Rosemary,.

    Love the sound of the ice cream, and will be delicious with the rose water and pitascho nuts. Thanks for sharing the recipe and would like to try this sometime.
    Happy weekend
    Hugs
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Carolyn - do give it a try sometime, it is easy and just a little bit different.

      Delete
  19. That looks absolutely deeeeee-lish! So delightful and exotic. Have you ever made green tea ice cream, Rosemary? I recently had it with sweet red beans at a Japanese restaurant, and it was yummy.
    Cheers
    L

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No I haven't Loi - I might buy some Matcha Green Tea and give it a try, but the sweet red beans are a complete unknown to me.

      Delete
  20. Dear Rosemary! I'm honored to have inspired this post. So glad you enjoyed making and eating our favorite Persian ice cream. Your photography is heavenly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Linda - I am really grateful to you for telling me about the ice cream, we really enjoyed it, and I will make it again. It is perfect for this time of year too.

      Delete
  21. We don't have an icecream machine so never made icecream myself but reading your recipe and seeing how delicious it looks makes me want to try it! I once tried making sorbet from berries without a machine, by stirring the mixture every half hour and then back into the freezer but that is just too time consuming and didn't get the result I wanted. I should invest in an icecream machine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I only have a very inexpensive ice cream maker that I bought from Lidl last year and it works brilliantly.

      Delete

❖PLEASE NOTE❖ Comments made by those who hide their identity will be deleted


“You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you - you have to go to them sometimes”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh