Pistachio and Cherry Bombe

By Clare de Boer

Pistachio and Cherry Bombe
Daniel Krieger for The New York Times
Total Time
1½ hours, plus cooling and overnight chilling
Rating
4(323)
Notes
Read community notes

This bombe was born of an accident and requires a little patience, lots of ice cream and a willingness to get crafty. Don’t be afraid to mix the biscotti dough by hand and play around when you are shaping it into your bowl. It won’t look perfect, but the bombe will be pristine. Confectioners’ sugar, cherries and grated pistachios are your allies to make this dish scream of delight. This bombe is frivolity at its finest, so don’t take the process of making it too seriously.

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Ingredients

Yield:16 to 20 servings

    For the Biscotti Dough

    • 5cups/750 grams shelled, raw unsalted pistachios
    • 1½cups/300 grams granulated sugar
    • 3lemons, zested (about 2½ tablespoons)
    • 2tablespoons honey
    • 6egg whites

    For the Filling

    • ½pound sweet cherries, pitted (about 1½ cups)
    • 2tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 3½pints vanilla ice cream, softened

    For the Garnish

    • Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
    • Shelled, raw unsalted pistachios, for garnish
    • Cherries, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (18 servings)

436 calories; 25 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 38 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 57 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a food processor, grind the pistachios and granulated sugar into a fine meal.

  2. Step 2

    Transfer pistachio meal to a medium bowl; add the zest, honey and egg whites and combine the ingredients using your hands until fully integrated.

  3. Step 3

    Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, pressing evenly until about ⅓-inch thick, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. The mixture should still be soft and pliable, like the center of a chewy cookie, with some color on top. When you poke it with your finger, the dent should remain.

  4. Step 4

    Line a 10- to 12-inch, freezer-proof bowl (about 4 quarts) with parchment paper and plastic wrap, allowing enough overhang to cover the top of the bowl. Set aside about one-third of the biscotti dough (this will form the bombe’s base later) and press the remaining dough into the bowl while the dough is still warm. (The layer should be as even and thin as possible, ideally about ⅓-inch thick.) Set aside until completely cooled to room temperature, about 1 hour.

  5. Step 5

    Meanwhile, roll out the remaining biscotti dough into a rough circle between two pieces of clean parchment paper. It should be about ⅓-inch thick. Trim it to fit the opening of the bowl. Set aside to cool completely.

  6. Step 6

    Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan, cook the cherries with the granulated sugar over medium heat for 10 minutes; they should be sweet and soft with a good amount of liquor. Set aside to cool completely.

  7. Step 7

    Remove 2 pints of ice cream from the freezer to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. When the biscotti bowl has cooled and the ice cream is easily scoopable but not at all runny, spoon 2 pints of ice cream into the center of the pistachio bowl and spread evenly with a spatula in the bottom and up the sides, about 1-inch thick. Place a nesting bowl or any smaller bowl in the center and use the bowl to tamp the ice cream down. Transfer the large bowl to the freeze to chill until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

  8. Step 8

    Remove another pint of ice cream from the freezer and let soften 10 minutes at room temperature. In a medium bowl, fold the cooled cherries and their juices into 1 pint of ice cream, leaving some pockets of vanilla. Spoon this mix into the center of the biscotti bowl (which is now covered with a frozen layer of plain vanilla ice cream). Freeze until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

  9. Step 9

    Spread the remaining ½ pint vanilla ice cream on top of the cherry layer. Cover the top of the bowl with the rolled-out remaining biscotti and tamp down. Freeze at least 8 hours, or overnight.

  10. Step 10

    To serve, turn the bombe out onto a plate. Sift confectioners’ sugar on top. Using a Microplane, grate pistachios all over the top of the bombe. More cherries are a lovely garnish. Slice and serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5
323 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Jess

Amazing recipe and so easy to execute! This is the type of content that keeps us hooked on NYTimes cooking!

SharonATX

I'm an experienced baker; this is a flawed recipe. 1) 10-12" is too big of a bowl. Go 8-9". 2) Parchment-line a bowl? LOL. Use aluminum foil. 3) After 25 minutes, the biscotti was almost burnt (yes, my oven temp is correct). I'd check at 18 minutes. Because of 1), I needed more ice cream than called for to make it work. Bottom line: Great flavors, but not worth it as written. BTW the pistachio recipe is ripped from the American Academy in Rome's biscotti book. I'd recommend making those instead.

Diane

It is beautiful creative and crafty. Where can I buy it because it’s too complicated for me to make.

Janice Byer

Yep, I made 1/6 of the recipe for little old me, i.e. 5/6 cup pistachios, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp honey, zest of 1/2 lemon, 1 egg white for the biscotti, which I baked it in a toaster oven on a parchment-lined tiny baking sheet crafted of heavy foil. For the filling, a heaping cup of vanilla ice cream and a 1/4 cup high-quality cherry preserves.

Gabby M

Beautiful and so good! Impressed my friends who think my skills in the kitchen are a kin to Cher’s character in Mermaids. You bring Ambrosia Salad ONCE to a holiday party and you’re a bad cook forever. Well, not anymore!

Janice Byer

Dried cherries can be purchased online and will plump up like fresh when cooked per the recipe in sugar if you add a bit of liquid, e.g. water, fruit juice, or brandy to compensate for the juice of fresh cherries.

David

Made this for a large birthday party. It was fabulous. The one important note is that the quantity of ice cream needed is all off — I used 3.5 quarts, not 3.5 pints. (Makes sense given it calls for a 4 quart bowl). Only other note is that I used frozen cherries, which worked great.

Galena D. Duba-Weaver

The pistachio crust is far too thick and hard. I thought it was a lot of work (and money-for all of those pistachios!) for pretty mediocre results. I was disappointed.

Lynn

I made half the recipe and used an 8” stainless steel bowl. Wasn’t sure whether to try to press the biscotti sheet onto the bowl in pieces or crumble the baked biscotti and reconstitute. Well, I tried both methods, and if you bake the biscotti sheet just perfectly, you should be able to crumble, then press into the bowl. Thought it would be a mess, the process was not exactly pretty. However, once you freeze completely and slice it open, it’s gorgeous.

Rosesdaughter

Add 1/2 tsp almond extract to the cherry liquor toward end of cooking.

Rogerio Lira

I made this three times now, once per summer. It’s always impressive and delicious: well worth the effort. As a sign of commitment to the recipe I got a bombe mold at Amazon (1 quart/1 liter) and settled for a much smaller size that’s enough for dessert at the end of a dinner party. The tips here helped: more ice cream, foil instead of parchment paper. Pressing the biscotti dough thinly-but-not-too-thinly onto the walls of the bowl is the trick. Shaving pistachios evens out the imperfections.

CL

This was so impressive & mysterious looking, and absolutely delicious... a hit! I used very good pistachio ice cream, and chopped frozen chocolate-covered cherries mixed into vanilla ice cream. I halved the biscotti dough recipe and cut the time and temp down, but ended up overbaking the sides anyway - watch the oven carefully. I only used the biscotti on the top, and used the Pistachio Macaron Cake from Extra Good Things for the base, for a little more substance. Everyone had seconds.

Rogerio Lira

I make this recipe for the third time this year, and now it’s officially a summer ritual. It’s such fun, visually, that I invested in a little aluminum bombe mold for spherical perfection. The third edition used pistachio ice cream, also home made. Half the recipe is plenty for our household or two, with a few friends over - a more sensible size, and just as indulgent.

Brianna

I made this for my birthday…but we got so carried away with karaoke at the house that forgot to serve it. Which is a bummer because I don’t often have 20 people over. Anyway, it turned out pretty good, but not great. The dough turned out kind of chewy, I was expecting something more like a cookie. I used dried cherries because they’re not in season…kind of wish I had waited to make this until they were in season. I probably won’t make this again. But it sure is pretty

Ronda in Cville

Ice cream measurements wrong, but I made it work. I decided to add pistachio and honey ice cream as the mix for the center. So delicious!

juhu

Has anyone tried halving this?

suzanne

Are you supposed to beat the egg whites stiff prior to mixing them with the pistachios et al?

duncan

Be careful to not over-cook the biscotti dough

jackie

Hello! Could be made with pecans in place of the pistachio? I’d like to do a version with pecan and peach. Thanks!

Richard

I have "mixed nuts" unsalted from Costco. Can I use that instead of the expensive 5 cups / 750 grams /1.66 Lbs of Pistachios ? Thanks to all who posted the amount of ice cream is off. And thanks to those who explained the recipe can be cut in half or quartered to make less than 20 servings !

J P May

Simplify the Mark Bittman way, still wonderful !

Rosesdaughter

Add 1/2 tsp almond extract to the cherry liquor toward end of cooking.

SharonATX

I'm an experienced baker; this is a flawed recipe. 1) 10-12" is too big of a bowl. Go 8-9". 2) Parchment-line a bowl? LOL. Use aluminum foil. 3) After 25 minutes, the biscotti was almost burnt (yes, my oven temp is correct). I'd check at 18 minutes. Because of 1), I needed more ice cream than called for to make it work. Bottom line: Great flavors, but not worth it as written. BTW the pistachio recipe is ripped from the American Academy in Rome's biscotti book. I'd recommend making those instead.

Dragana

Thanks for the tips! I always use plastic wrap to line my bowls for bombes. I can't imagine using parchment unless it's highly crushed.

Lynn

I made half the recipe and used an 8” stainless steel bowl. Wasn’t sure whether to try to press the biscotti sheet onto the bowl in pieces or crumble the baked biscotti and reconstitute. Well, I tried both methods, and if you bake the biscotti sheet just perfectly, you should be able to crumble, then press into the bowl. Thought it would be a mess, the process was not exactly pretty. However, once you freeze completely and slice it open, it’s gorgeous.

Karen

Made this for Mother's Day and it was lovely. I halved the ingredients (except the cherries - I used 1.5 cups) and had more than enough for 8 people. The crust is delicious - mine was about 3/8" thick and I didn't worry too much if it wasn't perfect...just covered it with cherries and sifted sugar. Will make it again in the summer with peaches.

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