Brigadeiros

Have you had these? You are missing out if you haven't. These are little Brazilian delicacies that are pure chocolatey, caramel-y goodness. A family friend who used to live in Brazil introduced me to these years ago, and when I asked her for the recipe she really gave me the run around. She bribed me! She told me if I stayed friends with her daughter forever, she would give me the recipe. No problemo, I had to have the recipe, even if her daughter was a pain. Needless to say, I kept my end of the deal and she kept up her end. I now have the recipe and although I can never get them to turn out right, I keep trying, because they are just delectable eaten straight out of the bowl! Here is the recipe:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 T. butter
3 T. cocoa powder

Boil the can of sweetened condensed milk in the can for 3 hours. Now I know this method is no longer recommended because of the serious hazards, so use your judgement, you can also cook it in the oven out of the can or over the stove top. Commom sense caution: If you do boil it in the can, don't open the can until it is completely cool and don't blame me if you get into trouble here, you've been warned. So, after you do that, pour the sweetened condensed milk into a pot, add butter and cocoa and stir over medium heat. Now this is the part where I mess up. Perhaps I don't cook it long enough or maybe I cook it too long, but after this step you are supposed to roll into balls. It is really sticky, so put butter on your hands. I still have trouble here, so I usually roll a few, roll into sprinkles/jimmies(is there a difference?) and then grab a spoon and start eating it out of the pot. Put into little candy cups if you make it that far.

You are probably asking yourself," Why did she post this recipe if it is a flop"? The truth is, they really are worth a shot and I believe there must be somebody out there who knows how to make them turn out right and then you can help me. Maybe my friend's Mom tricked me and didn't give me the exact recipe for fear that I would take the recipe and run?

In a few recipes I have seen that the sweetened condensed milk is not cooked prior to the second cooking, it just suggests to cook it all at once. Maybe that is my problem? I'll let you know after I try this method. You should also note that they can be rolled into sugar, coconut, nuts, or little white non-pareils or rainbow sprinkles, but I highly recommend the chocolate sprinkles, especially these.

So, try them, they really are not as much work as they seem and they make great little somethings to give to your friends/neighbors at this holiday time. And if they don't work, just heat and pour over some ice cream.