Ideas for sugary pistachio paste filling for dipped bonbons?

[jrshaul]

A family member is ape for pistachios, and Trader Joe's now stocks raw shelled pistachios at reasonable rates. Making homemade pistachio paste is simple enough, but what do I do with it? Something stiff enough to be hand-dipped in tempered chocolates would be preferable - I lack molds (for now.)

I was hoping to mix it with confectioners' sugar to get something approximating a peanut butter cup, but no dice. Maybe mix the paste with some sort of stiff fondant? a 1:1 to 1:2 ratio of pistachios to sugar seems about right.
 

Edited September 9, 2018 by Smithy
Corrected title spelling (log)

[pastrygirl]

How about a pistachio ganduja with white chocolate?

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, jrshaul said:

A family member is ape for pistachios, and Trader Joe's now stocks raw shelled pistachios at reasonable rates. Making homemade pistachio paste is simple enough, but what do I do with it? Something stiff enough to be hand-dipped in tempered chocolates would be preferable - I lack molds (for now.)

I was hoping to mix it with confectioners' sugar to get something approximating a peanut butter cup, but no dice. Maybe mix the paste with some sort of stiff fondant? a 1:1 to 1:2 ratio of pistachios to sugar seems about right.
 

I do one part soft white fondant with 2 parts peanut butter and some salt for PB cup centers - perhaps something similar?

 

Don't over mix or it gets too crumbly.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Jim D.]

56 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

How about a pistachio ganduja with white chocolate?

That's what I make quite often and add some chopped pistachios to the shell to get some crunch and more flavor. Pistachio ganaches, in my opinion, don't have a lot of pistachio flavor. The gianduja also pairs well with other fillings, especially something with cherries.

[Lisa Shock]

How about making marshmallows? You can cut to a dippable size, then slice horizontally, spread with pistachio paste thickened with a little powdered-sugar or fondant, reassemble the sandwich, then dip.

[pastrygirl]

8 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

How about making marshmallows? You can cut to a dippable size, then slice horizontally, spread with pistachio paste thickened with a little powdered-sugar or fondant, reassemble the sandwich, then dip.

 

That sounds like a major pain. 

[Kerry Beal]

17 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

That sounds like a major pain. 

and sweet!

[jrshaul]

Incidental question - can anyone recommend some good pistachio flavoring? A lot of what people think is "pistachio" comes from International Flavors and Fragrances - or, at least, mostly almonds.

On 9/6/2018 at 7:38 PM, Kerry Beal said:

I do one part soft white fondant with 2 parts peanut butter and some salt for PB cup centers - perhaps something similar?

 

Don't over mix or it gets too crumbly.

 

I'm curious - can you get this formula stiff enough to hand dip? I was thinking a fairly hard fondant would be needed. (Or perhaps I'm thinking on a different scale?)
 

On 9/7/2018 at 12:02 AM, Lisa Shock said:

How about making marshmallows? You can cut to a dippable size, then slice horizontally, spread with pistachio paste thickened with a little powdered-sugar or fondant, reassemble the sandwich, then dip.

An interesting idea, and one I'd probably go with nougat instead - I had some illegally smuggled Iranian candy once, and the pistachio-nougat thing really has legs.
 

On 9/6/2018 at 8:15 PM, Jim D. said:

That's what I make quite often and add some chopped pistachios to the shell to get some crunch and more flavor. Pistachio ganaches, in my opinion, don't have a lot of pistachio flavor. The gianduja also pairs well with other fillings, especially something with cherries.

I have found the same - pistachio gets lost real quick. Using straight sugar will at least minimize distraction. The chopped pistachios is a good idea, though.

 

[Lisa Shock]

Ooooh, nougat! I have a recipe for it that uses some of the freeze-dried fruits along with the standard nuts. But yeah, that's a classic.

[teonzo]

You can try pistachio marzipan. There is a hand dipped bonbon with it in the Greweling's book.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Kerry Beal]

45 minutes ago, teonzo said:

You can try pistachio marzipan. There is a hand dipped bonbon with it in the Greweling's book.

 

 

 

Teo

 

Second this - a great combination. 

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, jrshaul said:

Incidental question - can anyone recommend some good pistachio flavoring? A lot of what people think is "pistachio" comes from International Flavors and Fragrances - or, at least, mostly almonds.

I'm curious - can you get this formula stiff enough to hand dip? I was thinking a fairly hard fondant would be needed. (Or perhaps I'm thinking on a different scale?)
 

An interesting idea, and one I'd probably go with nougat instead - I had some illegally smuggled Iranian candy once, and the pistachio-nougat thing really has legs.
 

 

Pistacho nougat works well for sure. 

 

The soft white fondant is 115º fondant if I'm not mistaken - the mixture I make with peanut butter is firm enough that I have to press it into molds, so hand molding will likely work well. 

 

No thoughts on flavoring - it all seems to be almond. If I wanted almond I'd use bitter almond oil!

[jrshaul]

10 hours ago, teonzo said:

You can try pistachio marzipan. There is a hand dipped bonbon with it in the Greweling's book.

Which one? I think I found the recipe online, with a lot of warnings about de-emulsifying the oil, which is possibly why mine is a little bit goopy. (I thought it was the powdered sugar.) Would an emulsifier help?
 

9 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Pistacho nougat works well for sure. 

 

The soft white fondant is 115º fondant if I'm not mistaken - the mixture I make with peanut butter is firm enough that I have to press it into molds, so hand molding will likely work well. 

 

No thoughts on flavoring - it all seems to be almond. If I wanted almond I'd use bitter almond oil!

 

115 degree fondant?

There's a commercial pistachio flavoring on Amazon that's well rated, though it might just be green almond...

[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, jrshaul said:

Which one? I think I found the recipe online, with a lot of warnings about de-emulsifying the oil, which is possibly why mine is a little bit goopy. (I thought it was the powdered sugar.) Would an emulsifier help?
 

 

115 degree fondant?

There's a commercial pistachio flavoring on Amazon that's well rated, though it might just be green almond...

The soft white fondant is cooked to 115º C hence the name. Sorry - should have stuck with soft white. 

[teonzo]

13 hours ago, jrshaul said:

Which one? I think I found the recipe online, with a lot of warnings about de-emulsifying the oil, which is possibly why mine is a little bit goopy. (I thought it was the powdered sugar.) Would an emulsifier help?

 

The bonbon is called "pistachio homage", it's on page 370 of my "Chocolates and Confections" book (first edition, the one with the black cover). It should be even on the second edition (the one with the red cover).

No need for emulsifiers in the pistachio marzipan recipe. Greweling has clear instructions on how to avoid to break the emulsion in marzipans, and even how to fix it in case it happens.

 

 

 

Teo