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Brigadeiros are a delicious chocolate fudge ball. If you’ve never made candy before, this is a great recipe to start with!
I first tried brigadeiros at a wedding. The bride was Brazilian, and so the brigadeiros were part of the dessert course at dinner. I was blown away at how delicious they were!
Once we met up with the married couple afterwards, I asked her about these tasty morsels. She said that they are a common treat, and that sometimes people don’t even wait for the mixture to cool or roll them into balls. She says they will sometimes eat it straight out of the pot with a spoon! I can get behind that!
According to I Heart Brazil, these gained popularity after many women, who newly won the right to vote, handed them out at rallies supporting their favoured presidential candidate. Brigadier Eduardo Gomes was apparently handsome and charming.
After making these a couple times, I have a couple tips for you. First, use a candy thermometer if you have one. This way you can make sure that the mixture is cooked long enough so that it will become thick enough to roll in your hands once cooled. If you don’t cook the mixture enough, you might find that the mixture stays runny and is too sticky. Secondly, roll all of the mixture into balls before you roll them in sprinkles. This will help you keep your hands relatively clean. If you roll the balls and then cover them in sprinkles one at a time, your fingers and hands will become covered in sprinkles. You might find it difficult to effectively make the finished brigadeiros.
Brigadeiros only have a few ingredients. Thankfully, you can keep all the ingredients (save the butter) in the pantry for dessert emergencies. We once had friends over for a casual dinner, but didn’t have any dessert planned. So just before the guests arrived, I pulled all the ingredients out of the cupboard, cooked it down, and chilled it. Once dinner was over, I rolled the brigadeiros and served them!
Presenting and serving brigadeiros in the mini paper muffin liners are great. This allows the brigadeiros from sticking together (although the sprinkles also do this job), and make them look a bit fancy. However, you can also just place them on a plate. They look impressive no matter what!
Brigadeiros
Ingredients
- 398 mL sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium pot, mix the sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter.
- Cook, over medium heat, stirring constantly. The mixture should start to thicken and get glossy. Heat until 93 C / 200 F, when tested with a candy thermometer. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can cook the mixture until it is thick enough that when you scrape the bottom of the pot, the mixture will take 2-3 seconds before it flows back together.
- Scrape the mixture into a shallow dish and chill in the fridge for an hour.
- Once chilled, remove from fridge. Have a plate ready to place the brigadeiros once ready.
- Place sprinkles in a small, shallow dish. Rub a small amount of oil over the palms of your hands.
- With a small spoon, scrape up about 1 Tbsp of the chocolate mixture. Roll it between your palms until it is round. Place on the plate you have ready.
- Once all the brigadeiros are rolled into balls, roll them one by one in the dish of sprinkles until they are covered.
- Once brigadeiros are covered in sprinkles, place them in small paper muffin liners.
- Store the brigadeiros in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.
Check out our other dessert recipes here:
- chocolate chip cookies
- lavender shortbread cookies
- Nutella-stuffed cookies
- chocolate chip peanut butter cookies
- creme brulee
These look amazing!
These look amazing! I have never made fudge balls before, but it looks like a great summer fun activity that my daughter and I can try! Sim x #SSPS
They’re really quick and easy, and delicious too!
They look really good and I enjoyed reading about it too!
#MMBC
-Soma
Looking so yum
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Yummy, chocolate!!!! What a very neat cultural connection:) Have a wonderful Pink Saturday!
Amy
These look so delicious. I am sure they would satisfy a chocolate craving, make a great gift or make a great dessert! I am pinning this!
We just saw these mentioned on a show and then I couldn’t remember the name and here you are so I have to feature these when my party opens. They look amazing!
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