Pistachio powder or paste


Pistachio powder or paste
Pistachio paste has a similar texture to almond paste, but the similarity ends there, as its flavour and colour are quite characteristic.
386 K 15× 3.8/5 (29 reviews)
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Last modified on: October 13th 2010
For 400 g, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 20 min.
Resting: 15 min.
Cooking: 20 min.
All in all: 50 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1
Pistachio powder or paste
Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F).

You can buy pistachios already blanched with their skins removed (the green ones on the left in the photo), or still in their skins (usually cheaper).

Stage 2 - 2 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
For this recipe the pistachios need to have the skins removed, so if you need to do this, plunge them for 2 minutes into boiling water. Drain, then slip off the skins, which should now be quite easy.

Stage 3 - 5 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
Spread out on a baking sheet, and put in the oven to dry roast for about 5 minutes.

Stage 4 - 10 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
Meanwhile heat 200 g caster sugar and 4 tablespoons water together in a small pan over high heat, and bring up to 120°C (250°F), using an electronic thermometer if possible.

Stage 5 - 5 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
When this temperature has been reached, tip the pistachios all at once into the pan.

Stage 6 - 15 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
Then stir with a wooden spatula. After a few seconds the mixture should become grainy.

If this does not happen immediately it is because the sugar has not reached 120°C (250°F) yet. Don't worry, just keep stirring for a while longer until the change occurs.

When the mixture has turned grainy (like in the photo), stop stirring, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Stage 7 - 1 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
Tip the cooled contents of the pan into a blender or food processor.

Stage 8 - 3 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
Blend until it becomes evenly ground and green: pistachio powder.

If you wish to use this powder for flavouring biscuits, a cake or a cream for example, use as it is. The powder is quite easy to incorporate.

Stage 9 - 2 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
If you want pistachio paste, to fill chocolates for example, it's useless to blend any longer as, unlike praline, it will not turn into a paste like this.

All that's needed is the addition of a little egg-white (as for marzipan) to bind the powder.

Stage 10 - 5 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
The paste is best kept refrigerated, preferably spread into sort of flat cake, and wrapped in plastic film. Keep the powder at room temperature in an airtight jar.
Remarks
You will note that this recipe, unlike many others, does not contain almonds, just pistachios and sugar.
Keeping: A few days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe40 RDI=20 %240 RDI=20 %110 RDI=20 %2,100 RDI=110 %8,780 RDI: 110 %
Per 100 g9 RDI=4 %50 RDI=5 %20 RDI=4 %460 RDI=20 %1,910 RDI: 20 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Nuts, egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 400 g : 2.35 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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The 15 comments already posted on this recipe
  • Remove from the fridge until an hour (or more), then try to cut it in small pieces.
    Posted by jh october 31th 2020 at 07:47 n° 15
  • My pistachio paste has hardened in the refrigerator, what can I do to reconstitute it please. Not rock solid but very hard to incorporate evenly into Italian almond biscuits.
    Posted by Colette october 31th 2020 at 02:35 n° 14
  • By the use of the food processor and his blade.
    Posted by jh march 12th 2015 at 09:23 n° 13
  • How did you get it that green from step 7 to 8
    Posted by shafique march 11th 2015 at 21:24 n° 12
  • Thanks very much very easy to understand
    Posted by nata february 1st 2015 at 13:36 n° 11
  • I think you can try using a blender, it's not gonna be easy, but with a container a little bit bigger than the blender head, it could be possible.
    But perhaps if you could ask for a friend with a food processor, it will be much much easier...
    Posted by jh december 20th 2014 at 11:01 n° 10
  • SO, I really want to make this but i don't have a food processor and probably won't for a while so, can I do this in a blender or perhaps a magic bullet blender? (I just want to make powder, not the paste, for macarons) Please and thank you!
    Posted by Sophia december 19th 2014 at 21:02 n° 9
  • Read the recipe, step #10
    Posted by jh january 21th 2014 at 09:03 n° 8
  • How to store this and till how many days we can store in freezer??
    Posted by Anonymous january 20th 2014 at 17:28 n° 7
  • It will be light green with the powder in a cake, if you want a strong color you should use food coloring.
    Posted by jh june 5th 2011 at 09:20 n° 6
  • If you use the powder in a cake, will it make the cake green or do you need to add food coloring?
    Posted by Anonymous june 4th 2011 at 23:28 n° 5
  • Wait for about 15 minutes and it will be OK.
    Posted by jh june 3rd 2011 at 07:37 n° 4
  • Okay...heated sugar and pistachio and water to 250, how much should I cool before putting into food processor? Do you have an approximate temperature?
    Posted by Stacy june 2nd 2011 at 18:27 n° 3
  • Thank's Vicky, appreciate.
    Posted by jh april 17th 2011 at 10:58 n° 2
  • Merci Jean-Hugues! I've just created the most lovely pistachio paste (to use for warm pistachio cupcakes) thanks to your recipe... and I've tried many others before. Very much appreciated. Kind regards, Vicki (Melbourne, Australia)
    Posted by Anonymous april 17th 2011 at 05:18 n° 1

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