so St Patrick’s day is in…2 days…
I was hoping to make a green buttercream.
I was going to go with the grean tea cream but I was wondering if anyone has made Pistachio Buttercream.
I’ve had Pistachio gelato before and thought it tasted amazing…if Pistachio buttercream can be something as good as the gelatio it’ll make me very very happy

I don’t think taking nuts and blanching and grinding them up will make a very green buttercream will it? :(
not sure how to make nuts into paste
hum…

i adore the Silk Meringue Buttercream, using pistachio creme anglaise.  in addition, i add pistachio french aromes from http://www.lacuisineus.com and also pisctachio liqueur.

it is as good as melted pistachio ice cream!

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2008/09/hectors_7_cake_wedding.html

and all this sans green food coloring, except for the plain mousseline to cover the green cake, i did add green food coloring.

hum….sorry but does that mean you mixed in pistachio creme anglaise into the BC?
I looked at the link you posted
that is a very pretty color but the frosting isn’t pistachio and only food coloring like you mentioned

melted pistachio ice cream sounds good

i used the Cake Bible recipe for pistachio creme anglaise.  creme anglaise is one componenent of the silk meringue buttercream (also Cake Bible recipe).  this was a pale green/yellow color which i loved.

the outside of my green cake is mousseline buttercream, it only has pistachio liquor, plus green food coloring.  i first did a generous crumb coat with the silk meringue (uncolored), then a thin coat of the green mousseline.

Aggie, in my experience it is difficult to make a nut paste at home that is smooth.  You can buy pistchio paste from lepicerie.com or Albert Uster Imports.  If you use paste, it can be added to any of the Rose hot sugar syrup buttercreams. 

The buttercream Hector made, Silk Meringue, is my favorite.  It steeps toasted pistachios in milk (see the pistachio Creme Anglais for the technique), then uses that to make a custard as one component of the buttercream.  It will probably need a little help from food coloring to be green.

I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know for sure how good it is, but there’s a pistachio liqueur called Dumante, from Italy, that could be added to mousseline. 

Good luck with whichever version you go with, hope you post pictures!

I agree.  I once followed a recipe for a hazel nut buttercream that had you process the nuts until smooth in a food processor.  The butter cream was ultimate grainy…it was not possible to get them completely smooth in a home food processor.

Yeah I wasn’t able to find any pistachio paste
I went to many different grocery shops and didn’t find any :(
I have another opportunity to make the cream for this saturday as I’m going to a Pot Luck so I’ll be trying the Silk Meringue
wish me luck

Aggie, smooth pistachio paste is carried by specialty food distrubutors, and is sold online.  I haven’t seen it in a store. 
If you like the idea of paste (or if the silk meringue flavor is mild), you can use a “crunchy” version of the paste, grinding the nuts in a food processor until they turn pasty.  You could also add some larger chopped nuts for texture.  Good luck and post some pics if you can, we’d love to see it!

hum…
i was looking at the creme Anglais recipe and it seems to make a cup of the cream
but i don’t think the BC calls for a full cup
I kinda wish in the BC recipe it tells me how much cream the end result will be so I know how much of the pistachio creme I need….
If i’m judging by the amount of milk…it looks to be half a cup
I’ll give it a try
Going to buy the ingredients today…make the creme Thursday…Cupcakes on Friday…and the Actual BC on Saturday
I’ll have pics up by then if all goes well

Aggie, I would use the amounts of sugar, yolks, milk, etc from the buttercream, but use the method of extracting the flavor from the nuts that is detailed in the creme anglais recipe.  That is, steep the toasted nuts in the milk, strain, and use that to make the buttercream recipe.  Does that make sense?

AH!
that’s true!

Thanks for pointing that out

i’m about to give up before i start…
i can’t find raw pistachio anywhere

I spent an hour shopping
and they’ll have almonds, walnuts, chestnuts, all the other nuts for baking
but not pistachio >_<

the best i found…was dry roasted, unsalted pistachio that i have to deshell myself
i don’t mind the shell part..but i was wondering if it will affect the taste if it’s already roasted vs roasting myself

Pop a few in your mouth, if you like the taste, go for it!  I think they need to be blanched (boiled briefly and skins removed) in order to be green, if that’s important.

hum…in TCB, Rose made a comment that if you blanch it..it will be green…but you will loose some taste :(

I shall go buy these nuts and try then

I’m soooo excited
I’ve been dreaming about making the creme anglais and I finally did it last night
and it taste so good

So I managed to find raw pistachio…turns out that different stores even in the same chain carry different stuff
So I managed to find raw pistachio in the second bulk barn I went to

The first batch of pistachio I burnt >_< I turned off my toaster oven but left the nuts in there and um…it burnt lol
So I did another batch and they turned out ok….a couple burnt but I threw those out

I didn’t manage to scratch off all the skin…only maybe half..
So I was worried about somewhat more burnt taste from the skin and the brown color because there was like no green after i put it through the coffee grinder
But after steeping it in the milk for a very long time (I think I did it for like an hour lol) it turned out great…very flavourful

i didn’t manage to take my pot off the stove top fast enough when the temp hit 180 but i kept on stirring it so it didn’t seem to curdle YAY
anyways..end result..the creme is so good i just wanted to eat that in spoonfuls >_<

now for the buttercream on Saturday so excited

Congratulations!  Glad it worked out for you. 

If you like, you can add a drop or two of green food color to the bc to help it read “pistachio”.