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Bastani Sonnati
Serves 1 Prep 6 hr 25 min Cook 20 min Total 6 hr 45 min Type Dessert Origin Persian

Bastani Sonnati

Persia's saffron-pistachio-rosewater ice cream: studded with shards of frozen cream and a touch of mastic gum for a faint chew.

Serves 1 Prep 25 minutes (plus 6 hours freezing) Cook 20 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Milk and cream warm with sugar; saffron blooms in milk separately; egg yolks whisk with sugar to ribbons. The hot milk tempers into the yolks; the custard cooks back to coat-the-spoon thickness; off the heat, rosewater, saffron-milk and a pinch of mastic powder fold in. Cooled custard goes into the ice cream churn. As it freezes, ribbons of separately-frozen cream and chopped pistachios fold through.

Ingredients

Custard

  • 600 ml whole milk
  • 400 ml double cream
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 6 egg yolks (large)
  • A generous pinch of saffron threads (steeped in 4 tablespoons hot milk 15 min)
  • 2 tablespoons rosewater
  • ½ teaspoon ground mastic gum (optional but classic - sold at Middle Eastern grocers)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • A pinch of salt

Mix-ins

  • 200 ml double cream (frozen separately into a thin sheet, then broken into shards)
  • 80 g shelled pistachios (chopped)

Method

Stage 1 - Cream shards

  1. Pour 200 ml of the cream into a wide shallow tray (around 20 x 30 cm).
  2. Freeze 4 hours until solid.
  3. Break into rough 1 cm shards with a knife or by tapping; return to the freezer until needed.

Stage 2 - Custard base

  1. Combine the milk, cream and 100 g of the sugar in a heavy saucepan.
  2. Heat over medium until just simmering; stir to dissolve the sugar.

Stage 3 - Egg yolks

  1. Whisk the yolks with the remaining 100 g sugar in a bowl until pale and thickened.

Stage 4 - Temper

  1. Pour the hot milk slowly into the yolks, whisking constantly.
  2. Return the mixture to the pan.
  3. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 4-5 minutes until the custard coats the back of the spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clear line.

Stage 5 - Flavour

  1. Off the heat, stir in the saffron-milk, rosewater, mastic, vanilla and salt.
  2. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean bowl (catches any cooked egg).

Stage 6 - Chill

  1. Cool to room temperature; press cling film onto the surface.
  2. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

Stage 7 - Churn

  1. Pour the chilled custard into an ice cream maker; churn per the maker's instructions until soft-set.
  2. Without an ice cream maker: pour into a wide tray; freeze 4 hours, whisking vigorously every 45 minutes for the first 3 hours to break up ice crystals.

Stage 8 - Fold and freeze

  1. Tip the soft-churned ice cream into a chilled container.
  2. Fold through the pistachios and frozen cream shards (work fast so they don't melt).
  3. Smooth the top; cover and freeze at least 4 hours.

Stage 9 - Serve

  1. Let soften 5 minutes at room temperature before scooping.
  2. Top with extra pistachios and a few rose petals.

Notes

  • Mastic gum: Tiny crystals of pine resin from the Greek island of Chios; gives bastani its faintly chewy texture. Sold at Middle Eastern grocers; grind in a mortar with a pinch of sugar to a powder. Skip if unavailable; the ice cream is still excellent.
  • Frozen cream shards: A traditional Persian touch - they crunch through the soft ice cream and add fat-richness. Don't omit if you're going for the proper experience.
  • Saffron quality: Iranian super-negin or sargol gives the deepest flavour and colour. Cheap saffron tastes thin.

Storage

  • Keeps 2 weeks in an airtight container in the freezer; texture is best in the first week.

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