Mariana Veiga is from Brazil and when she saw our last post (How to Make Condensed Milk), she sent us her recipe for the fabulous brigadeiro. This is the classic version of the delightful fudge ball and there are many variations (see below).
Note: You may remember Mariana from the post last year about her trip to Mongolia with her husband and young son (click here). Since then, they have traveled to Africa, eastern Europe and now they are living in Italy for a year. You can see more about them at their website – https://theveigas.wordpress.com/. Mari is a graphic designer and she can be reached at marianapintoveiga@gmail.com.
Mari’s note to us:
Condensed milk is VERY popular in Brazil and is the core of our most popular treat: the brigadeiro. It is very easy to make, tastes delicious and it is mandatory at birthday parties.
In Brazil, we always buy store-bought condensed milk and I had never heard of making it from scratch. Since it is a very popular ingredient, it is very cheap and widely sold. Here in Italy, it is not so common and I met some people who had never heard of it! I buy some cans from time to time but they cost much more here.
Lots of love from Italy.
As you can see, there are many ways to make the fabulous brigadeiro.
Brigadeiro
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons powder chocolate (cocoa), Ovaltine or unsweetened cocoa (powder chocolate is more traditional but makes very sweet brigadeiros). Non-Brazilians tend to find it too sweet, so, I recommend trying the first batch with unsweetened cocoa powder.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (or you can make your own)
Directions:
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine chocolate, butter and condensed milk.
- Cook on low heat, stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle.
- Grease your hands with butter and shape small balls.
- Roll them over chocolate sprinkles or powder cocoa.
Tips:
- If you replace the chocolate for some strawberry-flavored powder, you’ll have a very nice pinkish version as well.
- If you cook for a shorter period (like 5 minutes or so), you can pour the creamy brigadeiro in a bowl and eat it with a spoon (this is my favorite version). You can also use it as cake icing or “syrup” for the ice cream.
Variations:
Cheesecake
Coconut
Coffee
Cookies & Cream
Pecan-Cinnamon
Pistachio
Pumpkin
Salted Caramel
Strawberry
Vanilla with Rum Raisins
White
Holidays – Eggnog, Gingerbread, Peppermint
