Brigadeiros

 

What a long time it's been since I wrote a post. Luckily, I am an incorrigible food-photo-taker.  So there is a reasonably thorough archive of all the interesting things I have cooked and eaten over the many, many months that I have been absent.  

One of the things I cooked recently is brigadeiro, a traditional Brazilian sweet. I first came across it around a decade ago at a potluck, back when I was a master's student. It was a contribution from a friendly Brazilian girl with an incandescent 1000W smile. One of the nicest things about my master's program was the number of people I got to know from cultures very different from mine. I also got the chance to taste food that I hadn't encountered before. Brigadeiro was one of the more memorable sweets I came across in those two years. They look like truffles but they're fudgier. I think of them as a more relaxed cousin, with none of the pretension that sometimes accompanies truffles, packaged in fancy boxes, fat ribbons and all. I've made brigadeiros a couple of times since I was introduced to them, i.e. not often enough, given how easy they are to put together. All you need is a handful of ingredients - butter, condensed milk, cocoa powder, a touch of salt, and sprinkles or nuts to finish. 

This time, I made it for a kids' birthday party. Decorated with an assortment of things -  chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, and pistachios - they were the prettiest thing on the table. Unsurprisingly, they were inhaled. I used a New York Times recipe. It worked very well, but I reduced the cocoa powder to around 3 tbsp given my audience. The original recipe calls for 5 tbsp. 

Here's to more brigadeiros in the coming decade! 

Brigadeiros

Ingredients 

2 teaspoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing your hands

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted

Pinch of flaky sea salt

1cup chocolate or rainbow sprinkles or nuts

Method

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over low heat. Add the condensed milk, sifted cocoa powder and salt, and whisk until no trace of cocoa remains, about 5 minutes.

Step 3

Turn the heat up to medium, and use a heatproof spatula to stir the mixture constantly until it becomes thick and shiny and pulls away from the bottom of the pan as a mass when you drag the spatula across it, about 7 minutes. If you’re not sure the mixture is ready, take ½ teaspoon of it and run it under cold water. When it’s cool enough to touch, squish it with your fingers — it should be the texture of a soft and fudgy caramel.

Step 4

Scrape all of the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper, and let it cool down until it’s easy to handle, about 30 minutes. I try to speed things up by putting it in the fridge. Lightly butter your hands, and use them to shape a scant tablespoon of the mixture into a ball or rough cube, then roll it in the sprinkles. Place each one on a paper wrapper, if you like. The brigadeiros will keep in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for 1 month. Serve chilled or at room temperature.