This Pistachio Cream Pie is nutty, smooth, and tastes like an absolute luxury with every bite. Encased in an enriched lemon pastry dough and topped with a lemon whipped cream, the toasted pistachios really come to life in this light, airy slice.
I can’t be fully to credit for this Pistachio Cream Pie. I was on vacation with friends a couple of years ago when I first came up with the idea of taking on a year of pies and tarts when one of my friends suggested making a pistachio cream filling. The idea promptly turned into a note on my phone and it stayed there while I looked into how others have previously approached a Pistachio Cream Pie. Many of the recipes I browsed through used powdered pudding mix or turned the filling into mousse. All of them sound absolutely delicious, but I wanted something a bit richer and silkier and more akin to a banana cream pie filling.
And so this Pistachio Cream Pie was born. The filling takes the base of a traditional vanilla custard pie filling and adds pistachio butter–either homemade or store bought, depending on how heavy duty your food processor is. Mine might have smoked a little bit when given the task of turning roasted pistachios into butter…but after a few rests, it finally produced something that, while not completely smooth, was smooth enough to still create a filling that tastes extremely luxurious.
I used honey and a little bit of lemon juice, honey, and cardamom in my pistachio butter (there’s a link to a recipe below along with a list of modifications I made for mine), and it brings a bit of life to the toasted nuts. This pie takes adds even more brightness to the filling though with a lemon tinted pie crust and a light lemon whipped cream. This pastry is enriched with an egg as well, which makes it easier to roll out and crimp. As always, just make sure the dough is chilled to almost frozen before filling with the pie weights/beans/rice (and lots of it!) to keep the sides from shrinking.
This pie has been dubbed as “the ultimate treat” in my house. And my brother-in-law and sister might have made an hour drive just to come have a piece. It’s delicious and surprisingly easy once you actually give it a go. And trust me, you’ll want to give this one a go!
| Cook Time | 30-35 minutes |
| Passive Time | 4-5 hours |
| Servings |
servings
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- 300 grams all purpose flour
- 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 170 grams unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp vodka
- 2-4 Tbsp ice water as needed
- 1 egg white (whisked with a little water for egg wash)
- 473 mL whole milk (1 pint)
- 60 grams granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 egg large
- 40 grams cornstarch
- 60 grams granulated sugar
- 180 grams pistachio butter* (1 cup) (see below)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 28 grams unsalted butter cold (2 Tbsp)
- 237 mL heavy whipping cream (1 cup)
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
Ingredients
Enriched Lemon Pie Dough
Pistachio Custard Filling
Lemon Whipped Cream
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- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, and lemon zest. Using your fingertips, rub in the cubes of butter until you have fine crumbs (the butter should be a bit smaller than pea-sized chunks).
- In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, egg yolk, and vodka. Add these wet ingredients into the large bowl with the butter and flour. Using your fingertips or the tip of a butter knife, give the dough a stir until the egg yolk is fully incorporated and the dough begins to come together and form large clumps. Add ice cold water 1/2 Tbsp at a time until you can bring the dough together into a ball with your hands, pinching any remaining dry bits into the ball using your fingertips.
- Lightly flour your countertop or work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 12"x4". Fold the top 1/3 of the dough to the center. Fold up the bottom 1/3 of dough to overlap with the top half. Flip the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding process. Flip 90 degrees and repeat one more time. Wrap in plastic. Using a rolling pin, gently press down to flatten the dough and bring any remaining dry bits at the edges together. Allow the dough to chill and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- BLIND BAKE THE CRUST: Preheat the oven to 425°F and place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to heat up. Lightly butter a 9.5" pie dish. Roll out the chilled dough until it's about 1/4" thick and the circle of dough is larger than the pie dish so that you'll have at least 1 inch of overhang; trim as needed if there is more excess dough. Fold the 1 inch of overhang over itself and gently press to make the dough flush with the edge of the pie plate. Crimp as desired. Chill the dough-lined pie plate in the freezer until solid, at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, dock the bottom of the pie with a fork. Lie the pastry with a piece of parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice to keep the pastry from falling down the sides of the dish and from puffing at the center. Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet and return to the middle rack of the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and take out the parchment paper with the weights. Brush the bottom and the sides of the crust with a whisked egg white to help seal any moisture from seeping into the crust. Return to the middle rack of the oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the bottom and the edges of your pie are golden brown and fully baked through. Remove the pie crust and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- In a large saucepan, heat the whole milk and 60 grams of granulated sugar over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the milk just begins to boil.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and whole egg. Sift the cornstarch and 60 grams granulated sugar into the eggs and whisk until smooth and combined. The eggs will be light in color.
- Temper the eggs by adding the milk a little at a time, whisking after each addition until the milk is fully incorporated into the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan and continue to cook over medium heat whisking constantly.
- Add the pistachio butter a little at a time, whisking until it melts into the milk and egg mixture. Once fully incorporated, continue to whisk until the custard begins to boil and thicken; after thickened, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and the butter. Continue to whisk until the butter melts.
- Pour the custard directly into the cooled pie shell. Refrigerate until cooled completely, about 2-3 hours or overnight.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or in a stainless steel bowl using a hand mixer, whisk together the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and lemon zest. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. You'll know it's ready when you need to bang the whisk on the side of the bowl to release any whipped cream that gets stuck inside.
- Top the cooled pistachio cream pie with the lemon whipped cream. Slice and serve.
*Pistachio Butter--you can either use a store bought pistachio butter or make your own. There are a couple of good recipes out there (I tweaked this one from Wild Wild Whisk a bit for this custard filling. I used 1 cup of shelled pistachios (roasted), 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground cardamom, and 1 tsp of neutral oil and processed until smooth.