Cardamom is one of the most valued spices in the world with an intense aromatic flavour used to bring out the best in both savoury and sweet dishes.
Cardamom is often referred to as ‘Queen of spices’.
I’m currently exploring Middle Eastern flavours, I decided to pair the cardamom with pistachio and date.
I used Sahlab to thicken my ice cream base, this traditional Middle Eastern drink is a dessert by itself, it is rich and creamy.
Sahlab is a flour made from the tubers of the orchid- genus Orchis.
The dates are cooked in a syrup and left to soften as they cool.
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Date Confit
125g water
125g sugar
250g pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla essence
Bring sugar and water to simmer, mix to dissolve sugar. Add dates and boil 3min. Place a disk of baking paper over the dates to keep them submerged. Remove from heat, add 1/4 cup of water.
Allow to cool and strain.
You should have 1/2 cup of liquid.
Keep the dates aside for the ice cream and the date syrup can be used as a drizzle.
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Pistachio, Cardamom & Date Ice Cream
2 cups milk
2 cups cream
2 Tblsp sahlab
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
Date confit
80g crushed pistachios
Whisk together 1/2 cup milk and 2 Tblsp of sahlab. Bring 11/2 cup milk, cream, sugar and cardamom to boil. Whisk the sahlab milk into cream/milk mix and boil for 2 min. Add half the dates and refrigerate for 4hrs. Churn and when almost ready add the pistachios and remainder of the dates.
