These chocolate brigadeiros, a favorite sweet in Brazil, are like little fudge balls that have been rolled in chocolate sprinkles. An excellent gift, dessert, or treat for the kids.
Chewy, fudgy, addictive. These little chocolate fudge balls are as common and well-loved in Brazil as cookies and brownies are in the United States. Traditionally, brigadeiros are a simple mixture of condensed milk, sweetened cocoa powder, and butter, cooked to a fudge state then formed into little balls and rolled in chocolate sprinkles. I find this to be much too sweet, so I made a few changes to the original recipe, adding real chocolate, real cocoa powder, heavy cream, and corn syrup. Unless I know the chocolate sprinkles are made with real chocolate, like the ones from Guittard or Cocoa Barry, I prefer to use cocoa powder or grated chocolate for rolling—and the result is amazing. This is a perfect dessert to give as a gift for any occasion. Children will love it and so will adults.–Leticia Moreinos Schwartz
Brigadeiros | Brazilian Fudge Balls
Ingredients
- Two cans sweetened condensed milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 3 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup chocolate sprinkles preferably Guittard
Directions
- Bring the condensed milk, butter, heavy cream, and corn syrup to a gentle boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.
- When the mixture starts to bubble, dump in the chocolate and the cocoa powder. Whisk really well to prevent any pockets of cocoa powder that could ruin the brigadeiros.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook the chocolate mixture, whisking constantly, until it is the consistency of a dense, fudgy batter, 8 to 10 minutes. You want it to bubble only toward the end of cooking, so it’s important to use low heat otherwise the chocolate will scorch. It’s done when you swirl the pan and the mixture slides as one soft piece, leaving a thick burnt residue on the bottom—that’s as it should be. If you undercook the chocolate mixture, the brigadeiros will be too soft; if you overcook them, they’ll be too chewy.
- Slide the chocolate mixture into a bowl (without scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid a burnt flavor) and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the chocolate mixture for at least 4 hours.
- Scoop the chocolate mixture by the teaspoonful and, using your hands, roll it into a little ball about 3/4 inch in diameter (roughly the size of a chocolate truffle). Repeat with the remaining chocolate mixture.
- Place the sprinkles in a bowl. Roll 4 to 6 brigadeiros in the sprinkles, making sure to cover the entire surface. Store them in an airtight plastic container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 1 month in the refrigerator. (Ha, as if they’ll last that long.)
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
These candies were easy to make, but took much longer to cook than stated. I live at a high altitude, which might contribute to the longer cooking time. Instead of the 8 to 10-minute cooking time, they took 24 minutes. They’re delicious, though: very toffee-like, but a bit chocolatey. I used cocoa, but I think this would be spectacular with chocolate, as stated—specially with sprinkles, which would be so fun visually. Not too sweet and very rich. I really like them and would make them again
Originally published December 18, 2017
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Brigadeiros are quite simple to be made and are expected at every birthday party, even if you are the only guest 🙂
We don’t use any syrup or cream. To assure that your consistency is perfect, you just need to add to your mixture of cocoa powder (8Ts), condensed milk (2 cans) and butter (4 Ts) 4 yolks. Everything is mixed before bringing to the stove. Please use low fire and don’t stop mixing with a wooden spoon. As soon as it starts bubbling, it takes more one minute and you will notice that the consistency will change and it will get completely out of the bottom. Take out of the fire and put the pan in a sink with cold water with ice to cool the bottom of the pan fast. If you leave it there with lots of ice in the water, after 20 minutes it will be ready to be “rolled ” using a small Teaspoon and hands covered in butter. Don’t forget to hide it covered in the fridge till you want to serve it. It tends to disappear if not well hidden 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Talita!
Can melted vanilla ice cream be substituted for the 2 Tbsp of heavy cream in this recipe, as I’ve heard it works great as substitute in hot fudge sauce recipes that also call for a small amount of heavy cream? Thank you.
Monica, we didn’t test it that way, so I can’t say for sure. It might interfere with the setting up of the candies.
My dear David and Gloria, life should always be celebrated with brigadeiros! Hugs to all! Leticia
Just when I thought my sweet tooth was on remission I made this recipe “for the kids” to celebrate the opening ceremony of FiFA’s world cup! Let me tell you, these little devils are adictive! They’re sweet, but they’re the perfect compliment to a nice cup of espresso macchiato ! Yummy!
They are, aren’t they, Gloria? I’ve had the pleasure of eating far too many of them as petit fours at the author’s home. God, were they good!
Hi Michele, here are the ingredients from a typical “original” recipe (this one comes from an old cookbook by Maria Thereza Weiss)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons Nescau
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon honey
3 egg yolks
Let me know how it comes out!
Many thanks, Leticia. Given the choice between the two recipes, I know which one I’d make…