Brigadeiros

I was in Brazil a few weeks ago. Not being much of a sports fan I was glad to make my trip before the World Cup started! Much to the disgust of every sports fan I have met since my trip I might add. I had two weeks of work and about a day of play time. Luckily I had a Brazilian colleague who was really into food accompany me for most of the trip and he gladly took on the mission of helping me taste as much of Brazil as I could in the two weeks. All the magazines and TV shows are all saturated with the foods of Brazil at the moment and I am quite chuffed to think “ate that” for most foods I am seeing.

This afternoon I had a bit of a craving for something sweet. I turned on the oven to make a cake and then turned it off again. Cake wasn’t going to do it. And then I remembered Brigadeiros – the very popular Brazilian sweets. I was lucky enough to be invited to a special baby welcoming party while I was in Rio – a party that is held about a month before the baby is due. Common presents are bags of nappies – how practical! And ofcourse there were homemade Brigadeiros there. Much nicer than the versions I had tried from some bakeries and cake shops. And I was luckier still to have the grandmother-t0-be make a batch for me and show me her recipe. All done with her speaking no English and me speaking no Portuguese!

Brigadeiros

1 can condensed milk (395gm)
25gm unsalted butter
4 heaped tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
Chocolate sprinkles to coat

Prepare a bowl or plate by greasing it with a little butter, set aside.

Put the condensed milk and half the butter into a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the cocoa (I read a suggestion after I made mine to dissolve the cocoa in a little water or milk before adding to help it mix with the condensed milk without creating lumps. I will do this next time – much easier than sieving the mixture as I cooked it to remove some of the lumps). Stir continuously while cooking. It will thicken and start to leave the sides when it is ready. Take it off the heat and add in the remaining butter. Pour into the bowl or plate and cool. When cool roll into small balls, and then roll in chocolate sprinkles. Or just eat spoonfuls of it before it finishes cooling!

(Photo credit: Brigadeiro picture by Rodrigo Senna on Flickrs Creative Commons)