The most famous Brazilian candies are Brigadeiros! These delicious chocolate truffles require just four simple ingredients in their basic version. They are a perfect homemade treat that everyone can prepare. In this post you will find out how to make Brigadeiros at home and what are the possible variations.
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What are Brigadeiros
Brigadeiros are sticky candies with chocolate flavour: a Brazilian speciality. They are usually covered with chocolate sprinkles which make them even more appealing. They are not hard to make and you need just few ingredients: condensed milk, butter, cocoa powder and sprinkles. That’s all for the common traditional recipe, however there are more variations which I’ll discuss below.
Where do I know this recipe from
Brigadeiros are well known candies and you can easily find hundreds of recipes for them. I received their recipe first by a friend who works in a Brazilian embassy. Later I realised that these candies are a whole science in their country of origin. So I researched several Brazilian videos and websites for the best advices. Below is my summary of all the tips and details I’ve learned from the various sources.
Recipe tips
Making Brigadeiros is easy as long as you follow certain rules rules. They are not necessarily quick, though. If you are aiming to get the best quality candy, you need to stir patiently the mixture at a low heat on the stove. This might take around 30 minutes or so.
Use a pan with a thick bottom to prevent easy burning. You need to stir all the time with a rubber spatula but having a proper pan contributes for a good result as well.
The mixture has to be very thick and to pull out from the pan, before you remove it from the heat. It is considered that the humidity in the fridge might change the texture and the taste of the candy.
For that reason you need to let the ready mixture sit at room temperature for 6 hours before rolling the candies (I didn’t wait enough time and the shape of my candies was not perfect).
The original recipe is with sweetened cocoa powder (or “powdered chocolate”, as it translates literally). I decided to use unsweetened cocoa as the condensed milk is pretty sweet and the result would have been overwhelming in my view.
Recipe variations
There are two main types of brigadeiro: traditional and gourmet. Brigadeiros Gourmet contain also heavy cream (the UHT kind) and high quality dark chocolate. Generally high quality ingredients are important for the excellent taste of this candy, especially the gourmet one.
But even the traditional Brigadeiro recipe can have flavour variations: you can add flavours like coffee, vanilla and others. You can also stuff the brigadeiros with fruits like chopped strawberries or raspberries. You can also coat them with other kinds of sprinkles. Use your fantasy!
Recipe sources
Here are the sources I used for this post:
10 dicas para fazer um brigadeiro perfeito
Video: Como Fazer Brigadeiro Gourmet - 5 Segredos Para Um Resultado Perfeito
Video: BRIGADEIRO TRADICIONAL - A receita clássica de festa infantil
Video: Como Fazer Brigadeiro - 3 Variações
I really hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know if you made Brigadeiros at home and how they went! Tag @tacoandtiramisu on Instagram or write below in the comments!
Maybe you would also enjoy the Portuguese cookies Areias!
Brigadeiros recipe
Ingredients
- 14 oz/ 400 ml sweetened condensed milk q can
- 1 tablespoon butter + more for greasing the balls
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder see notes
- chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- In a thick saucepan combine condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder. Place the pan on the stove over low heat. Start mixing with a rubber spatula until the mixture thickens significantly and starts pulling out of the pan. It will take about 30 minutes but depends on your stove and the pan.
- Let the mixture cool for 6 hours at room temperature.
- Grease your hands with some butter. Make walnut-size balls out of the mixture and coat them with the sprinkles.
- Arrange the Brigadeiros in paper cases.
Notes
- Store the candies at room temperature for up to 3 days. They keep refrigerated for up to a week.
- If you want to make variations, you can flavour your Brigadeiros with spices or extracts. You can also coat them in other types of sprinkles or stuff them with fruits.
About the author
Food Blogger, Photographer and Cookbook Author. Founder of the sites Dani's Cookings and Taco & Tiramisu.
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