How to Use Pistachio Paste: 8 Ways Beyond Dubai Chocolate

Dubai-style chocolate did something no advertising campaign could: it sent people looking for pistachio paste. If you bought a jar to make the bar, that was a good reason — and you now own one of the most versatile ingredients in a pastry kitchen.

Paste is pure ground pistachio, so it behaves like a flavour and a fat: it can be folded into cream, melted into ganache, whisked into butter, loosened into a sauce. This list covers eight of those uses, from a macaron filling to a pasta sauce. If you are new to working with paste, our complete guide to baking with pistachio paste covers the basics; this list goes further, one recipe at a time.

Two Habits Before You Start

• Warm the paste first. Ten seconds in the microwave, or the jar in a bowl of warm water, until it pours like thick honey. Every recipe below says “warmed” for this reason — cold paste seizes into lumps when it meets cold butter or cream. (More on this in our 10 pastry chef secrets.)
• Weigh it. Amounts are given in grams with a tablespoon guide. A 250g jar holds about 16 tablespoons, so 1 tablespoon is roughly 15g.

Oven temperatures are for a conventional oven; take about 15°C off for a fan oven. These recipes are a starting point — bake one small batch first and adjust to your own oven.

The 8 Ways at a Glance

Add the paste column up and the total is 390g — a 500g jar covers all eight recipes with 110g to spare. If you only want to try two or three first, a 250g jar is plenty.

These formats are not just home-kitchen ideas. Patisseries and cafés across the region already use pistachio paste in macarons, madeleines, cheesecakes, Swiss rolls and sablés — the recipes here are scaled for a home oven.

The Recipes

1

Filling · Medium

Pistachio White-Chocolate Ganache for Macarons

Paste 50g (≈ 3 tbsp)Fills about 24 macarons2 hrs chilling

The filling most patisseries reach for, and it works with any macaron shell recipe — including shells you buy.

You need

• 120g white chocolate, finely chopped
• 60g whipping cream
• 50g pistachio paste, warmed until pourable
• A small pinch of salt

Method

1. Heat the cream until it just steams, pour it over the chocolate, wait one minute, then stir to a smooth ganache.
2. Stir in the warm paste and the salt until it is one even colour.
3. Press cling film onto the surface and chill for about 2 hours, until it holds a piped ridge.
4. Pipe onto shells, sandwich, and rest the filled macarons in the fridge for 24 hours before eating — the shells soften slightly and the flavour settles.

Colour: soft pale green. White chocolate mutes it, and that is the honest result of using paste with no dye.

✦ Chef move: Make the ganache the day before and take it out 15 minutes before piping.

2

Cream · Medium

Pistachio Cream for a Swiss Roll

Paste 40g (≈ 2½ tbsp)Fills one 25 × 35cm roll10 min + 1 hr chilling

A light, stable filling that turns any plain roll sponge into the one people ask about.

You need

• 250g cold whipping cream
• 30g icing sugar
• 40g pistachio paste, warmed
• A cooled Swiss roll sponge (your usual recipe)
• 2 tbsp pistachio granules, optional, to finish

Method

1. Stir the warm paste with 2 tablespoons of the cream and the icing sugar into a smooth, loose paste.
2. Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks — stop as soon as the whisk leaves clear trails.
3. Fold the pistachio mixture into the whipped cream in two additions.
4. Spread over the cooled sponge, leaving a 2cm border at the far end, roll firmly, wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour before slicing.

Colour: soft pale green. Serve chilled, and do not leave it out for more than about two hours in Malaysian heat.

✦ Chef move: Roll only when the sponge is fully cool — a warm sponge melts the cream out of the sides.

3

Batter · Medium

Pistachio Madeleines

Paste 30g (2 tbsp)Makes about 121 hr resting

The paste goes into the melted butter, so every crumb carries it — no filling needed.

You need

• 2 large eggs (about 100g)
• 75g caster sugar and 1 tbsp honey
• 100g plain flour, 4g baking powder, a pinch of salt
• 90g butter, melted
• 30g pistachio paste

Method

1. Whisk the eggs, sugar and honey until pale and thick, about 3 minutes.
2. Whisk the paste into the warm melted butter until smooth, then fold it into the eggs, followed by the sifted flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Chill the batter for 1 hour — this is what gives madeleines their hump.
4. Fill a buttered, floured madeleine tin two-thirds full. Bake at 200°C for 4 minutes, then drop to 180°C for 6–7 minutes until golden at the edges. Fan oven: take 15°C off each.

Colour: golden with a faint olive tint, not green. The pistachio is in the flavour. Add granules on top if you want the colour cue.

✦ Chef move: Chill the filled tin in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking for a taller hump.

4

Dough · Easy

Pistachio Sablés

Paste 40g (≈ 2½ tbsp)Makes about 40 small cookies2 hrs chilling

The easiest recipe on this list, and the one that scales best for gifting.

You need

• 150g butter, softened
• 60g icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 40g pistachio paste
• 210g plain flour and a small pinch of salt
• About 50g pistachio granules, for rolling

Method

1. Beat the butter, icing sugar and paste until smooth, then beat in the yolk.
2. Stir in the flour and salt until just combined — do not knead.
3. Shape into a log about 4cm across, roll it in the granules, wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
4. Slice 8mm thick and bake on a lined tray at 160°C for 14–16 minutes, until the edges just turn golden. Fan oven: take 15°C off.

Colour: the dough bakes pale. The green comes from the granule edge, not the dough.

✦ Chef move: Freeze the log and slice from frozen for the cleanest edges — ideal for a Christmas batch.

5

Swirl · Easy

Pistachio Brownie Swirl

Paste 80g (5 tbsp)One 20cm square tin15 min prep

The gentlest way in: use a brownie mix or your own recipe and add the swirl.

You need

• Your usual brownie batter for a 20cm square tin (about 500g)
• 80g pistachio paste, warmed
• 30g warm cream or milk
• 20g icing sugar

Method

1. Stir the warm paste, cream and icing sugar into a thick, pourable ribbon.
2. Spread the brownie batter in a lined tin and dollop the pistachio mixture over it in 8–10 spoonfuls.
3. Drag a skewer through in a figure-eight — 3 or 4 passes only, or it turns muddy.
4. Bake as your brownie recipe directs (usually 175°C for 25–30 minutes), cool completely, and chill for 30 minutes before cutting.

Colour: baked in, the swirl turns golden-olive. For a green swirl, skip step 2 and spread the mixture over the cooled brownies instead, then chill until set.

✦ Chef move: Wipe the knife between cuts for clean squares.

6

No-bake · Easy

No-Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

Paste 80g (5 tbsp)One 18cm cake6 hrs setting

No oven and no water bath — just patience while it sets.

You need

• Base: 200g plain biscuits, crushed, and 90g melted butter
• 400g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 60g icing sugar
• 80g pistachio paste, warmed
• 200g cold whipping cream
• Zest of half a lemon, optional

Method

1. Mix the biscuits and butter, press into a lined 18cm springform tin and chill for 20 minutes.
2. Beat the cream cheese, sugar and paste until completely smooth, scraping the bowl twice.
3. Whip the cream to soft-stiff peaks and fold it into the cheese mixture in two additions.
4. Spread over the base, smooth the top and chill for at least 6 hours — overnight is better. Add granules just before serving.

Colour: soft pale green. It is a soft set: freeze for 30 minutes before slicing for sharp edges.

✦ Chef move: Room-temperature cheese and warm paste beat smooth. Cold cheese leaves lumps.

7

Savoury · Easy

Pistachio Pasta Sauce

Paste 30g (2 tbsp)Serves 215 min

Paste is not only for dessert. Loosened with olive oil and pasta water, it makes a quick sauce in the spirit of a pesto.

You need

• 200g dried pasta
• 30g pistachio paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Juice and zest of ½ lemon
• 1 small garlic clove, grated
• 30g finely grated hard cheese (choose a halal-certified one if that matters to you)
• About 60ml pasta cooking water, salt and black pepper
• Toasted shelled pistachios or granules, to finish

Method

1. Cook the pasta in well-salted water and keep a mug of the cooking water before draining.
2. In a wide bowl, whisk the paste, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic and 4 tablespoons of hot pasta water into a smooth, loose sauce.
3. Add the hot pasta and the cheese and toss, adding splashes of pasta water until the sauce coats the pasta and turns glossy.
4. Season, then finish with the toasted pistachios and a little extra lemon zest.

Honest note: this is a quick paste-based sauce, not a classic basil pesto. It is rich, so a small plate goes a long way.

✦ Chef move: Add pasta water a spoonful at a time — paste tightens as it cools.

8

Chilled · Easy

Rose & Pistachio Milk Pudding

Paste 40g (≈ 2½ tbsp)Serves 43 hrs chilling

A Persian-inspired pudding — milk, rose and pistachio — and the simplest dessert on the list.

You need

• 500ml whole milk
• 40g cornflour
• 50g caster sugar
• 40g pistachio paste, warmed
• 1 tsp culinary rose water (start here and adjust)
• Pistachio granules and dried rose petals, to finish

Method

1. Whisk the cornflour into 100ml of the cold milk until smooth.
2. Heat the remaining 400ml of milk with the sugar until it just steams, whisk in the cornflour mixture and stir constantly over medium heat until thick and bubbling, about 4–5 minutes.
3. Off the heat, whisk in the warm paste and the rose water until smooth.
4. Pour into four glasses, press cling film onto the surface, chill for 3 hours, and top with granules and rose petals.

Colour: soft pale green. Serve well chilled.

✦ Chef move: Rose waters differ in strength. Start with 1 teaspoon, taste, and add more if you want it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Délice Pistachios — Editorial Team

Délice is Malaysia's specialist in premium Iranian pistachio ingredients — supplying pastry chefs, café operators, boutique hotels, and home bakers with kernels, paste, powder, slivers, and granules sourced directly from Iran's finest pistachio-growing regions.