I have fond memories of walking along a tree lined street in Shandiz (Iran), eating a Persian saffron and rosewater ice cream wafer sandwich. Shandiz is famous for traditional Persian cuisine, in particular Persian sweets. Perched high up on a hill, Shandiz has an amazing array of Kebab houses, restaurants and tea places. It was very tempting to sample them all but my favourite above all else was this out of this world saffron and rosewater Ice Cream.
Looking for Persian Love…
Have you heard of the legend of Persian Love Cake? It goes like this, a girl made a cake flavoured with saffron rosewater cardamom and pistachios. It was so good she captured the heart of her Prince Charming.So I was looking for this particular cake in every Iranian city I visited, but there was no such thing. I was actually quite disappointed because I really wanted to try the famous authentic original Persian Love Cake.
I’m telling you, I’m beginning to suspect that the love cake legend was a just a product of western imagination. But what does Persian Love Cake have to do with this ice cream post? I’m getting to that. Well I was so disappointed I couldn’t find the cake in Iran, I drowned my sorrows in tubs of Persian Ice Cream instead , which has the same flavours.
The flavour combination of saffron rosewater cardamom and pistachio is truly Persian and no more so, than in this delightful Bastaneh Sonati , which is what it’s called in Farsi. This is often times eaten sandwiched between thin wafers and is then called bastaneh noni.
The following recipe is shared by my dear friend Mojhgan , an academic extraordinaire from Tehran and is my premier reference for all things Persian. She makes this for me when she comes to visit from Melbourne and it always turns out really special.
What you need to make it…
If you don’t cook a lot of Middle Eastern cooking you probably need a trip to a specialty shop.
- Saffron – It takes about 70,000 flowers to produce 450g of saffron so it’s no wonder that it’s the costliest spice in the world today. It can vary from gold to bright orange in colour , has a slight bitter taste and an earthy hay like aroma. Persian saffron are sun dried and considered the best quality. Luckily, you only need a few strands of saffron for this recipe. If your saffron does not produce that golden colour, use a few drops of yellow food colour if you want. I myself, like the natural pale yellow colour, but the ones I tried in Iran where brighter yellow. I have seen saffron in major supermarkets and some delis.
- Rose Water – As a flavouring, rose water is very intense and overpowering. Use only the amount specified. There’s a fine line between rose flavour and rose perfume. Available from delis and Middle Eastern shops. Don’t like/have rosewater? Skip it and it will still be delicious, promise!
- Cardamom – Available in pods or in powder form. Powder form is more convenient and is found in the spice aisle in most supermarkets.
- Pistacios – Use unsalted shelled pistachios. Chop coarsely by hand or pulse quickly in a food processor.
- Pantry Staples – Heavy Cream or thick cream. Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Dried Rose Petals – Optional for garnish.
How to make it..
Fo such an exotic flavoured ice cream, it’s actually very easy and simple to make and no special equipment required. Yes, no need for an ice cream maker. A mixer is handy, but if you don’t have that you can even whisk the cream by hand.
- Whip the cream until stiff peaks form
- Prepare the saffron water infusion
- In a separate bowl, mix condensed milk, saffron water, cardamom powder, vanilla, salt and rose water
- Fold the milk mixture into the whipped cream
- Gently fold in the chopped pistachios
- Place the mixture in a clean freezer safe container and freeze overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Serving ideas..
- Delicious as it is or served on a cone
- Sandwiched between cookies – shortbread works well, traditionally in Iran wafer biscuits are used.
- This is spectacular as an ice cream cake. Place the ice cream mix in a 9 inch diameter spring form round pan lined with cling wrap. Freeze as per direction. Better still place in a silicon mould; which is then easier to un-mould.
Saffron and Rosewater Ice Cream
12
servings10
minutes0
minutesPersian Love Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 can Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon Rose Water
2 teaspoon ground cardamom
500 ml heavy or thickened cream
1/2 cup roughly chopped pistachios ,unsalted
2 tablespoons saffron water
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon salt
- Saffron Water
20 to 30 strands saffron,depending on the quality
2 tablespoons water
Directions
- In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, whip heavy or thickened cream until stiff peak forms and doubled in volume.
- Prepare saffron water infusion as per recipe below.
- In a separate bowl, mix together condensed milk, saffron water, rose water, cardamom powder, salt and vanilla essence until well combined.
- Carefully fold the chopped pistachios and the milk mixture into the whipped cream.
- Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Serve by itself garnished with more pistachios and rose petals if desired, or sandwiched between two plain cookies and rolled in chopped pistachios.
- Saffron Water
- Place saffron strands in a small piece of foil. Fold foil to seal flat like an envelope. Place foil packet in a hot pan on medium heat for 2 seconds then flip to the other side. This toasts the saffron strands and make it easier to grind. Be careful not to burn the saffron.
- Use the back of a spoon to grind the saffron inside the foil packet. Or use a small mortar and pestle to grind the saffron strands into powder.
- Open the foil packet and pour ground saffron into 2 tablespoons of water and mix until saffron powder is dissolved.
Notes
- Ice cream will keep for 4 weeks covered in the freezer.
