Chocolate Covered Pistachio Ice Cream

Chocolate Covered Pistachios in Rich Chocolate Ice Cream - OXO LockTop Container Giveaway

Thanks to our great friends at OXO for letting me test out these great  LockTop containers. I've been using them on a daily basis for a over a month now and they are great. The lids snap on and are airtight. You can put your leftover avocado or guacamole in them and it will not turn that unappetizing grayish brown. I've also used the little ones to transport milk to go along with my instant oatmeal breakfast. These containers are also freezer and microwave safe too.

But the true test is how well do they hold up for storing ice cream. The key to storing ice cream is that the container has to be airtight so that the ice cream doesn't absorb any weird flavors you have going on in your freezer. Plus the container must be able to eliminate any moisture from getting in and creating frost on top of your ice cream.


My normal way of storing homemade ice cream was in empty plastic quart-sized yogurt containers. They worked but the drawback was that I had to place a film of plastic wrap over the top to create a good seal. Plus since the yogurt containers are not see-through, I would have to label them because I couldn't tell what ice cream I had inside of them. 


With the medium OXO LockTop container, it has more than enough room to hold a quart of homemade ice cream. The seal is airtight so that excess moisture and any funky freezer flavor could not seep into and ruin the ice cream.  The OXO LockTop container is clear so it makes it easy to see how much ice cream you have left and what flavor it is. 

Since these OXO LockTop containers have a colorful green ring around the lid, it inspired me to create this chocolate-covered pistachio ice cream recipe.

You can win a set of these great OXO LockTop containers by leaving a comment below.  When leaving a comment please use the Name and URL option or leave your email in the comment. The contest deadline is midnight (PST) on July 16, 2012. I will randomly choose a winner and post the winner's name here. You will receive a set of 4 Mini and 1 Medium LockTop containers. Please note this giveaway is only for readers in the United States. 

The giveaway is now over. Congrat to Beth! I'll be sending out these OXO containers to you shortly.

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Ingredients for Chocolate-Covered Pistachios
1/2 cup of whole shelled unsalted roasted pistachios
8 oz of dark chocolate

To make the chocolate-covered pistachios, you need to temper your dark chocolate. You can use the double boiler method or the microwave. I tempered my chocolate in the microwave using a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl. If you're using dark chocolate from a bar, it will temper faster if you chop it into little pieces and then microwave them. When tempering chocolate in the microwave you want to do it in 10-second intervals and, in between intervals, stir the chocolate around so it melts evenly. 


Once your chocolate is nice and melted, add in your pistachios and mix them together until all the pistachios are covered with chocolate. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Using two spoons I laid out the chocolate covered pistachios on the baking tray and placed them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to harden.

Ingredients for Rich Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
2/3 cups of sugar
2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of milk
6 tsp of dutch processed cocoa powder
6 oz of dark chocolate
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon

In a medium-sized saucepan combine the sugar, milk, cocoa powder, dark chocolate and heavy cream. Bring it to a simmer then temper the 3 egg yolks with the warm milk and cream. Pour the tempered egg yolks into the saucepan . Slowly bring the custard base up to 165 degrees and then transfer to a heat proof bowl and place in an ice bath for 1 hour. Stir in the vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon. Refrigerate the base for at least 4 hours or overnight and then churn in your ice cream machine. When the ice cream is almost done, stir in your chocolate-covered pistachios. You can also save a few to decorate your sundae. Place your ice cream in a freezer proof container, such as the OXO LockTop containers, and let the ice cream set for at least 4 hours in your freezer before eating.

Let me know if you have any questions and what did you think of the Chocolate-Covered Pistachios in Rich Dark Chocolate Ice Cream.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary set of LockTop containers to facilitate my honest review.  All opinions are my own. Thanks to OXO for sponsoring the giveaway!