I love recycling recipes and these Pistachio and Brioche Bread Truffles came from an idea that popped into my mind a few days ago. I had prepared the brioche bread for the weekend breakfast and, as often happens, on Monday half of the dessert was still there staring at me from inside the cake stand. After some thought, I decided to make some indulgent bites for my colleagues using Fabbri 1905 pistachio spread and the poor brioche bread. Needless to say, the dark chocolate and milk chocolate were also results of further ingredient recycling: the started chocolate bar that had been in the fridge for a couple of weeks and others forgotten in the pantry, from Christmas gift packs. You couldn’t get a more recycled recipe than this!
A few years ago, I proposed a very similar recipe for making Truffles with cocoa dove cake, always with the idea of recycling ingredients that ended up on the highest kitchen shelf and no one looks at anymore. This time, I thought of using brioche bread because lately, I often make it and don’t finish it, either because it’s hard for two people to consume desserts for 4 or 6, or because if I don’t have the morning shift, I sleep longer and skip breakfast, or if I have the shift, I quickly eat breakfast with cookies. Basically, I put myself in situations that might happen to you too, so you might see yourself in me with that piece of dry brioche bread that I don’t want to throw away.
I recorded for you the step-by-step video recipe to make chocolate and pistachio truffles with a soft brioche center together. I hope it helps you understand all the steps of this easy and quick recipe to make a dessert loved by both kids and adults.
Below you will find the recipe for cocoa truffles so you can start thinking about Easter approaching, and of course the Brioche Bread recipe that I highly recommend you try because when freshly baked, it is super soft and stays that way for a couple of days.
I leave you with two recipes that you can prepare using Fabbri 1905 pistachio spread: the Pistachio Tiramisu without whipped cream and pasteurized eggs, which I prepared with my friend Isa a few months ago, and Pistachio Biscuits, fragrant and delicious, one leads to another, irresistible!
Remember that you can purchase the pistachio cream, along with all other Fabbri 1905 products, at the official store using a 20% discount code by typing FABBRIRICETTEDIBEA20 before checkout! Find the recipes made with gifted products in the Recipe Collection with Fabbri 1905 products!
Before moving on to the recipe for pistachio and brioche bread truffles with chocolate, I inform you that I await you every morning in the Facebook group and fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day, a must-attend event to start the day together with a sweet or savory treat!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 34Pieces
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Summer
- Energy 122.65 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 8.38 (g) of which sugars 4.48 (g)
- Proteins 2.63 (g)
- Fat 8.97 (g) of which saturated 2.72 (g)of which unsaturated 0.98 (g)
- Fibers 1.08 (g)
- Sodium 4.38 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 25 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 40 Pistachio and Brioche Bread Truffles
- 8.82 oz pistachio cream (from Fabbri 1905)
- 8.82 oz brioche bread (stale)
- 8.82 oz mascarpone
- to taste chopped pistachios (or other chopped nuts to your liking)
- 8.82 oz chocolate (in my case, half milk and half dark)
- 2 tablespoons milk
Tools to prepare Pistachio and Brioche Bread Truffles with Chocolate
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Cup
- 1 Stove
- 1 Refrigerator
- 2 Plates
- 2 Parchment Paper
- 2 Teaspoons
- 1 Plastic Wrap
Take note, especially for those watching the video recipe, that, being recycled chocolate, namely chocolate bars with hazelnut pieces, the outer coating of my truffles already has granules. If you want to recreate this effect, just add some chopped almonds or hazelnuts to the melted chocolate and you’re done!
Recipe Steps for Pistachio and Brioche Bread Truffles
As you might have guessed, this recipe requires no cooking, but we still need to turn on the stove to melt the chocolate bars in a double boiler. Alternatively, you can use a microwave if you have one. So, place a saucepan with water on the stove, turn on the heat, place a bowl inside and break the chocolate bars to melt them, adding two tablespoons of milk. Stir occasionally with a spoon.
In a bowl, crumble the brioche bread adding the mascarpone and pistachio cream. Use a spatula or your hands to mix until a sticky consistency is achieved. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. After this time, we can proceed with the recipe.
Place the bowl with the melted chocolate on the work surface and take the bowl with the dough from the refrigerator. Lay parchment paper sheets on trays or plates that will be placed in the freezer. Also, take the chopped nuts you chose, in my case pistachio, almond, and hazelnut granules.
Divide the dough into small balls weighing between 20 and 25 grams each. By doing so, you should get about 40 pistachio truffles. Place them one by one on the parchment paper sheet that we previously prepared. Once the mixture is finished, we can proceed with the chocolate: dip each truffle in the bowl and, using two teaspoons, turn the dough ball to coat it well. Place on a parchment paper sheet and continue with all the other balls. Sprinkle the truffles with the granules.
Put the plates in the freezer for at least an hour. After this time, the pistachio truffles will finally be ready to be enjoyed. Keep in mind that you should take the pistachio and brioche bread truffles out of the freezer at least ten minutes before serving them. This way, they will return to room temperature and won’t be hard to bite.
I can only wish you a good appetite and remind you that I await you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here on the blog with a new recipe!
Storage and variations:
You can store the truffles with brioche bread and pistachio cream in the freezer for a few days, remembering to take them out at least ten minutes before enjoying them, so they can return to room temperature and not cause that unpleasant sense of cold to the teeth with the first bite.
As a main variation, you can replace the brioche bread with crushed cookies, pandoro or panettone, or since Easter is approaching, with dove cake, like the cocoa truffles I proposed a few years ago. You can also vary the mascarpone with spreadable cheese similar to Philadelphia, if you prefer. The consistency will remain the same as the pistachio truffles in my recipe!
