Food Lust People Love: sweettreats

Chewy caramel insides are covered with chocolate sprinkles to make these sweets, essential at any Brazilian party. They are so easy to make too!

This week, #SundaySupper is celebrating celebrating. What I mean is, we are sharing recipes that are perfect for showers. Baby showers, bridal showers or whatever lovely gathering you are planning this month. Our host is Brandie from Home Cooking Memories, so I think she will appreciate that I reached back to one of my favorite times to share this party favorite.

Brigadeiros are an easy sweet treat that make an essential appearance at every celebration in Brazil. We lived there for almost six years when our daughters were little. In fact, both of them started school (a couple of years apart, of course) at the Omega School, which was a few blocks from our house, in the small neighborhood of Macaé called Vivendas da Lagoa. It was a tiny operation with fewer than 30 students ranging from the three-year-olds to one sixth grader, with most children falling on the younger end of the chart. Enrollment was so small most years that when one child celebrated a birthday, the whole crowd was invited. The best part was that they all played well together, regardless of age or grade level. We missed that interaction later, in bigger schools.

In those days, Macaé was a small oilfield town, short on amenities. (I’ve been told it has progressed greatly since then, although I haven’t been back.) Grocery shopping was limited and it was a challenge to do it all in one day, especially with at least one small child in tow. Chicken was only purchased at the chicken shop, beef, pork and sausages at the butcher. If you wanted fresh vegetables, the best place was Hortifruti, the covered market. Fresh milk was in limited supply so we bought UHT (ultra high temperature) milk that came in Tetrapaks.

For cheese, there were a couple of places you might get lucky, just don’t expect anything fancy. But one thing that every shop had, even the little corner store in our neighborhood, were cans of the sweet sticky paste used for making brigadeiros. When we left Brazil (and the supply I had brought in our shipment was exhausted) we had to learn how to make them without it. Because, as I am sure you will agree once you try one, life is too short to go without brigadeiros. Fortunately, it isn’t that hard since you start with sticky condensed milk, available everywhere.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 tablespoon butter plus a little extra for buttering your hands when you are rolling the little balls

1 (14 ounce or 397g) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

10.5 oz or 298g packet chocolate rice or sprinkles (You may not use them all.)

60-70 tiny paper muffin liners

Method

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, pour in the condensed milk, then sift in the cocoa and add in the butter.

Cook over a medium heat, stirring gently to make sure it is well combined.

Keep stirring and cooking until it is quite thick, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. It will stiffen up even more as it cools.

Put your chocolate sprinkles in a small bowl or other deep container.

Rub a little butter into both of your palms. Using a small spoon, scoop up a little of the sweet paste and roll it into small balls between your palms.

Use one spoon to scrape it off into your buttered palm.

Roll it between your buttered palms to get a smooth ball.

Drop it gently into the small bowl of chocolate sprinkles and roll it around until coated. Place each covered ball in a paper muffin liner. Place on a serving tray.