Brigadeiros are small chocolate fudge balls rolled in chocolate sprinkles. Condensed milk, cocoa, and butter cook down in one pan. After a backyard churrasco they come out on a tray, the same way they do at a birthday or a festa. You make them hours ahead. They sit at room temperature while the fire runs. The coconut sister on the same tray isbeijinho.
Ingredients (about 20 balls)
- 1 can (14 oz/ 395 g) sweetened condensed milk (leite condensado)
- 3 tablespoons (18 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (chocolate em pó)
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) unsalted butter (manteiga), plus more for the plate and your hands
- About 3/4 cup (120 g) chocolate sprinkles (granulado de chocolate)
Use cocoa powder, not drinking chocolate. Granulado is the cheap chocolate sprinkle sold in a tub at a Latin market or the baking aisle. Rainbow sprinkles are a different candy.
Method
- Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the condensed milk and cocoa until there are no dry lumps.
- Keep stirring. The mix will bubble slowly and thicken. When you can drag the spoon across the bottom and see the pan for a second before the fudge closes, it is ready. That is usually 8 to 12 minutes. Stay with the pot. It scorches.
- Scrape it onto a buttered plate. Let it cool until you can touch it, about 30 to 40 minutes. The fridge speeds this up if the kitchen is hot.
- Butter your hands. Roll balls about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across. Roll each one in the sprinkles and set it in a small paper cup if you have them. A plain plate is fine.
How you know it’s done
The fudge holds a clean line on the bottom of the pan for a second, and a spoonful mounds instead of running. Underdone brigadeiro will not roll.
After a churrasco
Make the tray in the morning, or the day before. They keep covered at room temperature for a day, or two days in the fridge. Bring them out after the meat. Cafezinho is the usual cup with them. Guaraná or juice if people want something cold.
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