As Valentine's Day approaches, we wanted to celebrate love by creating a new, sweet recipe for you. We started racking our brains to find one that would warm hearts during this cold winter. Maria and Thaïs – our two new production artists – then introduced us to a delight from their homeland…

The Brigadeiro, a Brazilian confectionery to show affection

The Brigadeiro is a small, round Brazilian confectionery, traditionally made with condensed milk, butter, and cocoa. Reminiscent of truffles, locals often eat them as a bite-sized treat and incorporate them into many other sweets.

Its creaminess undoubtedly explains why it's considered a gift. Brazilians have a custom of offering it to loved ones as a token of affection, spontaneously or on special occasions. Indeed, as Thaïs and Maria explain, "There's no birthday without Brigadeiro; it's a tradition here!" According to them, it's a cherished memory for many Brazilians: "It reminds us of our childhood and Sunday afternoons cooking with family. Each bite brings back emotional memories."

While traditional Brigadeiro is chocolate-flavored, it comes in other typically Brazilian flavors, such as exotic fruits or coffee.

Our team of food lovers immediately fell for this confectionery. If you're familiar with Viva's approach, which is to break codes and explore new panettone flavors, you'll easily guess what followed!

The meeting of two gourmet savoir-faire

Without further ado, we started preparing panettones with Brigadeiro! The technique we developed is ingenious…

1. After preparing our panettone, we remove the top and the crumb from the center.

2. We then insert our Brigadeiro-based filling.

3. Finally, we reposition the top of the panettone and coat it with chocolate.

The result? A Panettone with a melting Brigadeiro heart and a moist crumb topped with crunchy chocolate.

And since we hate to waste, we set aside the panettone crumb from the center – the one we removed and replaced with the Brigadeiro heart – and transform it into small Panettone bites. We then coat these small "rocks" with dark or milk chocolate, for a crunchy exterior and a soft interior.

3 new sunny-flavored treats to celebrate love

We designed and created 3 panettones, each with different Brigadeiro flavors.

1 – Passionate Love – Passion fruit Panettone with a passion fruit Brigadeiro heart

We incorporated one of Brazil's most iconic fruits, the famous passion fruit, into the panettone dough. The creaminess of the passion fruit Brigadeiro heart balances the fruit's acidity, creating a savory equilibrium. Finally, crunchy dark chocolate pearls sprinkle the chocolate-passion topping, visually echoing the fruit's interior.

For Thaïs and Maria, passion fruit was an obvious choice to celebrate this month of love. Iconic in Brazil, it's also known for its aphrodisiac properties… Perfect for Valentine's Day!

2 – Sweet Dew – Three-chocolate Panettone with a raspberry Brigadeiro heart

This panettone is a blend of intense dark chocolate with spicy notes, milk chocolate, and Guajana chocolate melted directly into the dough. The raspberry Brigadeiro heart brings a fruity and slightly tangy note, and white chocolate pearls sprinkle the raspberry coating.

"Since raspberries are not a typical Brazilian fruit, they are quite expensive here, and symbolize a certain luxury."

3 – The Irresistible Traditional – Cappuccino Panettone with a chocolate Brigadeiro heart

The sweetness of our two chocolates balances the strength of the Arabica coffee paste: dark chocolate with an intense and warm cocoa flavor, and melted and biscuity Dulcey blonde chocolate. The cherry on top: its traditional chocolate Brigadeiro heart that melts in your mouth. As for the chocolate pearls scattered on top of the panettone, they symbolize the mix of colors in Brazil.

Maria and Thaïs are from Southeast Brazil, where about 30% of the total coffee production takes place. They wanted to pay homage to their homeland with this gourmet panettone.