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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.
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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, (180ml)
- 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 (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.
- Put the remaining milk (1/2 cup/120ml), 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, I’m looking to try to recreate a pistachio tiramisu I had in Rome and I believe they put a pistachio cream on it. Would this work for that?
Ciao Anj, yes this would be perfect for pistachio tiramisu, enjoy!
I want to make this and turn it into a filling for eclairs…. Will this mix well with whipping cream ?
Hi Shawna, it’s better mixed with pastry cream rather than whipped cream as I think it can separate.
Hi, How many grams if using pre shelled postachios? Thank you
150g without shells 🙂
Hello. Are the pistachios raw or roasted? Looking forward to trying this for gifts!!
Hi Martha, the pistachios are raw 🙂
Hello, I came across your recipe when looking for pistachio cream recipe to make a pistachio cheesecake. I need to use this as top glaze for the cheesecake, does it firm up glossy? I need a recipe that will get firm in the fridge and pls be glossy. Thank you.
Hi, the pistachio cream does firm up in the fridge but I don’t think it’s what you’re looking for as it’s not the same consistency of a glaze and doesn’t have a mirror shine.
Hi, does it matter if its couveture chocolate or compound chocolate? Thank u!
Hi Lilah, I’m no chocolate expert but I used couverture chocolate for this recipe. I’m not sure about using compound chocolate, I think it would work fine but may not taste as good as couverture chocolate?
The pistachio should be roasted or raw? Thank you in advance!
Raw pistachios 🙂
Delicious followed the recipe exactly and it worked perfectly no issues. Just boiled the pistachios drained them and then rubbed them on a thick tea towel.
Thanks so much Jas, so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I just made this and it’s delicious! I did the whole thing in a Ninja blender and added in the melted chocolate mixture a little earlier to help out blend.
Do you know if it freezes well? It made more than i was expecting!
I have been looking for a good recipe for Pistachio Cream for some time and have finally discovered this one which is easy to follow and makes the most delicious Cream. Tomorrow I will be turning it into Pistachio Ice Cream using your recipe – it looks like it has a very high Yummm….. factor!!
Best EVER! Second time making this and will keep making it!! So delicious! Thank you
So happy you enjoyed it, thanks so much 🙂
Hi Emily! This recipe is delicious 😋. I wanted to make it again but this time I wanted the consistency to be thicker as I will be putting the spread in some cookies. Do you have any tips on how to achieve this? Thank you!
Ciao Aleena, so happy you enjoyed it! To get a thicker consistency I’d either add more pistachios in or reduce the milk to reach the consistency you’re after. You’re cookies sound delicious 🙂
Could this be made without the white chocolate? I am not a fan of white chocolate, and also prefer less sweet. If so, would you adjust the recipe at all?
Hi Elise, sorry I can’t be much help I’ve never tried to make it without white chocolate.
Hi,
I’d omit the white chocolate and add cream and butter.
I don’t prefer too sweet either 😊
Can this be used to make a tartlet? I am visiting rome and just had a 1 inch square pistachio tartlet and I’m obsessed. Would I need to mix it with the pastry cream? If so what ratio? I’ve never made a tart before but I need this in my life!!
Ciao Mary, yes you could use it as it is or mix it with pastry cream. If mixing it make sure to add the pistachio cream whilst the pastry cream is still hot. The ratio is up to you, you could add half of the pistachio cream and taste it then add more as you like.
This is exactly the recipes and answers I’ve been looking for! We recently did a tour of Puglia and tried pistachio pasticciotti and I’ve been dreaming of it ever since! That crunch when you bite into the pastry! Then you hit the creamy filling… buonissimo!!!
Thank you for sharing your recipes! I will definitely be trying your recipes soon!