Bastani sonati is the ice cream of Tehran's old cafés — a saffron-and-rosewater custard churned with pistachios and shards of frozen cream that snap between the teeth. The saffron does double duty here, tinting the base a pale gold and perfuming every spoonful. It is traditionally pressed between two thin wafers, but a bowl does it no injustice.
At a glance
Serves 6
Prep 20 min
Cook 15 min
Chill & freeze 4 hrs
Saffron: 25 threads (≈0.10 g)
Ingredients
- 25 threads Raihan Afghan Super Negin saffron, bloomed in 2 tbsp warm milk
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp rosewater
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup slivered pistachios
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, frozen in a flat dish and broken into chips
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Heat milk, 1 cup cream, half the sugar, cardamom, salt until steaming.
- Whisk yolks with remaining sugar. Temper with hot dairy. Return to saucepan.
- Cook on low until custard coats a spoon. Off heat.
- Stir in saffron bloom and rosewater. Chill 2 hours.
- Churn in ice cream maker. In the last minute, fold in pistachios and frozen cream chips.
- Freeze 2 hours before serving.
Chef's note
Crush the threads to a coarse powder before blooming them in the warm milk — in a pale custard, whole threads leave streaks while ground saffron gives an even, sunrise gold. And do not skip the frozen cream chips: those solid, milky shards against the perfumed custard are what make bastani bastani.
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