This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Crema al Pistacchio is the most delicious Italian Pistachio Cream made with pistachios, white chocolate and milk. Use it as a filling for doughnuts, pastries and cakes or simply spread it on bread or toast. Super quick and easy!
Crema al Pistacchio is a popular and decadent Italian spread that’s sweet, creamy and insanely delicious.
You can use it pretty much how you would Nutella, spread it on toast or bread, fold it into cream to fill desserts, cakes or pastries or simply grab a spoon and dig in!
Better yet, it’s super quick and easy to make and will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. See our full step by step recipe below including photos, tips and video, enjoy!
Ingredients – what you need
See the photo below that shows you everything you need to make this recipe plus some important tips on ingredients!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It- Pistachios – make sure you use unsalted pistachios. You can either buy pre-shelled or shell them yourself both work just as well.
- Milk – whole milk will give you the best creamy flavour but you can use half fat if that’s all you have.
- Butter – make sure to use unsalted.
- White chocolate – use a good quality white chocolate for best flavour.
- Powdered sugar – I only use 1 tbsp of powdered sugar (icing sugar) since a lot of sweetness comes from the white chocolate but feel free to add more to taste.
Step by step photos and recipe instructions
Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil and add the shelled pistachios. Let them boil for 4 minutes then drain them and place them on a clean kitchen towel (photo 1-3).
Fold the towel over and rub the pistachios in the towel to loosen the skins. Separate the pistachios for the skins and discard them (photo 3 & 4).
Add the pistachios to a food processor with only 1/4 cup (60ml) of the milk and 1 tbsp of powdered sugar. Blitz for around 5 minutes until the pistachios turn into a smooth paste. You’ll need to stop the processor 3-4 times to scrape down the sides. You’ll notice the pistachio turn into crumbs first then it should form into a ball when it’s reached the paste stage (photo 5 & 6).
Put the remaining milk, butter and white chocolate in a clean saucepan and heat on a low heat until melted, set aside (photo 7 & 8).
Transfer the pistachio paste to a blender and pour in the white chocolate mixture. Blitz until extra smooth and creamy (you can adjust the consistency with more milk if desired (there’s no need to heat the milk up first) (photos 9-12).
The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. See notes for delicious ways to use it.
Ways to use it
Pistachio cream can be used in so many different ways. Mix it with pastry cream (Crema Pasticcera) and use it to fill Italian doughnuts (Bomboloni), mix it with ricotta and use it to fill homemade cannoli or mix it with mascarpone and use it to fill cakes.
You can also use it to make pistachio ice cream (my absolute favourite flavour), spread it on toast or even eat it by the spoon…it’s that delicious!
Recipe tips and FAQs
- Peel the skins – you’ll notice that shelled pistachios have brown skin over all of part of the outside. If you don’t peel the pistachios the skins will cause the cream to be slightly gritty with black/brown flecks.
- Boiling the pistachios – boiling makes it super easy to remove the skins but also soften the pistachios slightly making it really quick and easy to get a smooth consistency.
It’ll keep well (covered) in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The top will become darker but just give it a mix. If it’s thickened too much you can add it back to the blender with a splash of milk to loosen.
You can use just the food processor if you like but you won’t achieve the extra smooth and creamy consistency (unless you have a high power blender). The blender really helps with this but it’s optional.
If you’ve tried this Pistachio Cream or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW US on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST or sign up to our NEWSLETTER to see more of our delicious food
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Italian Pistachio Cream (Crema al Pistacchio)
Ingredients
- 1 heaped cup shelled unsalted raw pistachios, (150g)
- 3/4 cup whole milk, (190ml)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, (30g)
- 3.5 oz white chocolate, (100g/about 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar, (icing sugar)
Instructions
- Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil and add the shelled pistachios. Let them boil for 4 minutes then drain them and place them on a clean kitchen towel.
- Fold the towel over and rub the pistachios in the towel to loosen the skins. Separate the pistachios for the skins and discard them.
- Add the pistachios to a food processor with only 1/4 cup (80ml) of the milk and 1 tbsp of powdered sugar. Blitz for around 5 minutes until the pistachios turn into a smooth paste. You’ll need to stop the processor 3-4 times to scrape down the sides. You’ll notice the pistachio turn into crumbs first then it should form into a ball when it’s reached the paste stage.
- Put the remaining milk (1/2 cup/125ml), butter and white chocolate in a clean saucepan and heat on a low heat until melted, set aside.
- Transfer the pistachio paste to a blender and pour in the white chocolate mixture. Blitz until extra smooth and creamy (you can adjust the consistency with more milk if desired (there’s no need to heat the milk up first).
- The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for 2 weeks. See notes for delicious ways to use it.
Video
Notes
- Peel the skins – you’ll noticed that shelled pistachios have a brown skin over all of part of the outside. If you don’t peel the pistachios the skins will cause the cream to be slightly gritty with black/brown flecks.
- How long does it last? It’ll keep well (covered) in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The top will become darker but just give it a mix. If it’s thickened too much you can add it back to the blender with a splash of milk to loosen.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi,
how much mascarpone would you reccommend to use to make it a cake filling? Thanks 🙂
Hi Anna, it really depends on what size of cake you’re making but I’d use anything from 250g to 500g. Use an electric whisk to mix it all together 🙂
Delightful and authentic.
Only issue is that this is more runny than you would use for pastry filling, would be good with coffee. Use a thickening agent like eggwhite or corn starch, or use less milk to get that consistency.
Are the pistachios roasted?
unroasted and unsalted 🙂
Hi! May I ask, do you just add the cornstarch straight into the mixture to thicken the cream? How much did you use? Thank you!
Very good. Thanks 😊👍
Really yummy! Not too sweet and certainly a fun quick recipe! It did come out a little more liquid-ey than I was aiming for, but I added corn starch as a thickening agent and it worked!
Can the paste be finished the the same food processor or does it need a blender?
Hi Agnes, you can but I found that my food processor didn’t get the cream extra smooth like a blender can.
This looks delicious! I’m on the hunt for a pistachio sauce for iced coffee. Do you think this would work?
Ciao Kira, I sometimes add a spoonful to hot espresso so I think it could work in your iced coffee too, enjoy!
Hi Emily, This looks great! can’t wait to make it. Is there a hazelnut version of this or is that just like nutella (with dark chocolate?) Thanks
Heyy, yes we have a hazelnut version too Homemade Nutella. Hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Tasty recipe, but I have one caveat. If you boil the pistachios you must let them dry. Mine soaked up more water than I anticipated and left my final product as a liquid. I might try to bake them for a few minutes are they are boiled and peeled to remove some of the moisture.
Is it possible to substitute oat milk instead of whole?
Hi Courtney, this is a tricky one because I’m not familiar with oat milk. It could possibly work since the milk is just used to help loosen the cream, let me know if you try it!
I used coconut milk and it was AMAZING