Ingredients
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Traditional brigadeiros:
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1 can condensed milk
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3 tbs – 1 oz chocolate powder unsweetened
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1 teaspoon Butter
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Chocolate sprinkles
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Homemade condensed milk:
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½ cup hot water
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1 cup powdered milk
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½ cup Sugaryou can add more or less to taste, or use an artificial sweetner for a light variation
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1 teaspoon unsalted butter
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1 teaspon vanilla extractoptional
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Vegan variation:
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Use soy powered milk instead of cow milkand vegan margarine instead of butter.
Directions
How to Make Traditional Brigadeiros:
- Put the condensed milk, cocoa powder (sifted if you want) and butter in a small pot.
- Cook it over a slow heat, constantly mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula, until it almost sticks to the bottom of the pot. This is important: when you tilt the pot a little bit, you’ll notice that the brigadeiro “slides”, without sticking to the bottom.
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Turn the heat off and pour it over a platter lightly greased with butter.
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Let it cool.
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Then, grease your hands with butter and mold the brigadeiro in little balls, taking small portions of the chocolate mix with a small spoon.
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Cover it with chocolate sprinkles and then put it in little paper molds or on a platter lined with wax paper.
How to Make Homemade Condensed Milk:
- Put all the ingredients in a blender (put the hot water first, carefully) and blend it for at least 2 minutes, being careful not to burn yourself.
- You can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you want.
- Store it in a container with a lid and leave it in the fridge until it thickens a little bit.
- It can be used to prepare all recipes that call for condensed milk, including “pudim” (a type of flan).
How to Make Soy Condensed Milk (Vegan Variation):
- Follow the same instructions as above, but use soy milk instead of cow’s milk, and use a vegan margarine instead of butter.
Variations:
- If you want coconut brigadeiros, which we call beijinho, use dried coconut flakes instead of chocolate/cocoa powder. Instead of covering the little balls in chocolate sprinkles, use coconut flakes (dried).
- If you want cashew bigadeiros (cajuzinho), use peanut or cashew powder instead of chocolate. Use it also to cover the little balls (you can also mold the candy as little “cajus”, a typical Brazilian fruit).
- There are many other variations using the same base, for example, surpresa de uva (grape surprise), or a strawberry variation; use strawberry Nesquik instead of chocolate and red granulated sugar instead of traditional sugar.
