Brigadeiros: Brazilian Candy

Welcome to Creative Culinary Day at This & That Creative. To start us off, I have chosen a recipe that I love! 

Brigadeiros! 

This recipe is very simple, but very yummy (and gluten-free, depending on what you roll them in)! It is a Brazilian Candy that is often served at birthday parties.

Photo from www.praquemquisermevisitar.com

My family met Virginia (from Brazil) and her family through my uncle. This family visited the states a few times while I was growing up and would make sure to stop by at our house. Virginia shared this recipe with us, and everyone would always love when my mom would make them! 

Brigadeiros are named after Brigadeir Eduardo Gomes (a famous Air Force Brigadeir in Brazil) and originated in Brazil at a time when nuts, fruits, and imported sweets were scarce because of the war in the 1940s. Nestle had just introduced cocoa powder and sweetened condensed milk. The combination of timing and access to ingredients gave birth to Brigadeiros! And I am oh so glad!

Here is the original recipe as told to my family:

Brigadeiros

1 can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk

2-4 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

Sprinkles or anything else yummy to roll them in

Prepare a plate to pour your mixture on by rubbing 

butter across the surface and set it aside.

Mix ingredients together in a pan over medium heat.

Stir continuously while mixture thickens (about 10 minutes).

When you can tip the pan and the mixture pulls away from

the edge as though it is loose from the pan, 

you are okay to take the pan off the heat. The longer you

cook them, the thicker they will be. If they are already

pulling off the pan, I would leave them on the heat only about

 two minutes longer if you want them thicker. Do NOT overcook.

Pour the mixture onto the buttered plate and then refrigerate

until cool enough to handle. The cooler they are, the 

easier they are to handle. Next you will need to wash 

and butter up your hands. Take a spoon and scoop the mixture

off the plate to roll into balls, and dip each ball 

into any of these: sprinkles, coconut, crushed Oreos, 

crushed graham crackers, nuts, etc. 

Place the balls in small candy cups (mine usually don't

make it to this point..hehe). You can serve them right away or chill 

them until you want to eat them!

P.S. I hear that these can be made without the cocoa powder for a more caramel taste but have never tried it. Leave a comment if you have tried it this way, or if you decide to make them from this recipe, I'd love to hear how they turn out! 

Here are some other ideas of how to serve them:

with spoons in a cup

photo from www.maria-brazil.org

on a stick

Photo from www.superziper.com

with a surprise inside

photo from www.17andbaking.com

17 and Baking has some great variations. Check the page out HERE.