Brigadeiros are a popular 20th century delicacy from Brazil. It was only a matter of time before they made their way across the Atlantic to Portugal… undoubtedly due to the two countries’ close ties and that famous Portuguese sweet tooth! Today, you’ll find brigadeiros at many Portuguese cafés and there are even tiny little shops that serve only brigadeiros of various flavors. It was only a matter of time before I shared the recipe on the blog…
Aside from being a delicious party favorite, you’ll find that this recipe works really well as a chocolate cake frosting and/or filling. Instead of rolling the brigadeiros into balls, you’ll just need to spread it over a cake while it’s still gooey and not caramel-like.
Ingredients:
100 g (3.5 oz) milk chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp. lightly salted butter, plus extra for greasing
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate sprinkles (or other coating of your choice, such as dried shredded coconut or crushed nuts)
Mini baking cups
Instructions:
1. In a pan, on low heat, mix together the chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter with a spatula until well blended.
2. Add in all the condensed milk.
3. Stir constantly on low heat until the mixture is quite dense, almost caramel-like. You’ll notice that if you run the spatula along the bottom of the pan, it will take some time for the mixture to get back to where you the spatula just was. It should be a soft caramel-like texture.
4. Pour the mixture onto a previously-greased plate to let it cool. Cover with saran wrap. You can either let it cool for briefly at room temperature but make sure it’s still a bit warm when you start .
5. Pour sprinkles or desired coating onto a plate and set aside. Set out several baking cups individually near the plate of coating.
6. Once the mixture has cooled briefly, grease your hands with some butter and roll the mixture into a 1-inch ball. Drop it into the coating and make sure the ball is completely covered in the topping. Place into a baking cup and repeat. I only had large baking cups, but normally they will fill up the entire mini cup.
I hope your brigadeiros look a little better than mine, but that they’re just as delicious! You can get creative with these and use rainbow sprinkles for kids parties, use pink sprinkles with red baking cups for Valentine’s Day, or use gold/silver powder for new year’s eve or special occasions. You can also mix up the various toppings and create a fun selection.
