Expert-Level Pistachio Orgeat
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This cardamom and rose scented pistachio orgeat is just heavenly.
Its creamy texture will have you adding it to more than just cocktails. It’s really delicious in coffee or added to cakes as a glaze.
You’ll need the following equipment:
Ingredients:
Instead of my usual orgeat recipe, I decided to try Dave Arnold’s recipe that includes a couple extra sciencey ingredients which we will get to in just a minute.
The first step is shelling the pistachios. You could of course by them already shelled, but to me, shelled pistachios always taste kind of stale.
Once I’ve shelled 50 grams of pistachios, I am going to blanch them. While it isn’t common practice to blanch them, it is essential to keeping your orgeat that beautiful green color.
There’s a thin pinkish brownish skin on the pistachio. If you don’t remove it, your orgeat will be a more brownish color rather than green. It will be delicious either way, but I think it looks nicer and has a smoother texture with the skins removed.
Unlike almonds, when blanching pistachios, you will need to soak them in cold water first to help the skins release from the nooks and crannies of the nut.
After 5 minutes, drain them and then soak them for another five minutes in hot water. Once the skins easy slip off, drain the pistachios and remove the skins one by one. You can do this by hand, or you can rub them onto a kitchen towel or paper towel and the skins should come off pretty easily.
Next, add them to a blender along with 195 grams of hot water and the seeds from 2 Cardamom pods. I just crack the cardamom pods with a muddler and remove the seeds. Blend this on high for a minute.
Once it’s been fully blended, strain out the nut milk by pouring it into a nut milk bag and squeeze out the liquid.
Homemade orgeats tend to separate when shaking them in cocktails, that’s where the aforementioned sciencey ingredients come in.
Dave Arnold uses something called ticaloid 210s along with a bit of xanthan gum. You can get the same results using a blend of gum Arabic and xanthan gum powders in a 10:1 ratio. Since this is a fairly small batch of orgeat, I’m going to need to use a drug scale to get accurate measurements. I need 0.4 grams of gum arabic and 0.09 grams of xanthan gum.
While the cardamom and pistachio milk is still hot, add it back into a clean blender along with 165 grams of sugar and 40 drops of rose water- which is pretty potent, so be careful not to add too much.
While the blender is running, add in the gum Arabic and xanthan gums powders. Adding the gums to a running blender will stop them from clumping and incorporate evenly into the orgeat. Blend for about a minute and a half on high to ensure the gums are fully incorporated.
Now just pour it into a jar, label it, and let it cool off in the refrigerator and its ready to use!
This will separate in the refrigerator after time. Just make sure to shake to combine before using, or even use a stick blender. This should keep in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.
This orgeat stole the show in my Persian Love Cake Cocktail.
Pistachio Orgeat:
50 g shelled pistachios
195g hot water
2 cardamom pods
165 g sugar
.4 g gum arabic powder
.09 g xanthan gum powder
Method:
Shell pistachios and soak in cold water for 5 minutes. Drain the pistachios and soak in hot water for 5 minutes.
Drain the pistachios and remove the thin pink film from each.
Add the pistachios to a blender along with 195g of hot water and the seeds of 2 cardamom pods and blend for 1 minute on high.
Pour the mixture into a nut milk bag and squeeze out the liquid.
Clean the blender then add the pistachio cardamom nut milk back to the blender along with 165 g of sugar and ~ 40 drops of rose water. Blend and add gums while the blender is running, continue to blend for 1.5 minutes to ensure the gums are fully incorporated.
Bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
