brigadeiros

i was super excited when i turned on the today show earlier and saw a brazilian chef making brigadeiros - little fudge-y truffles that are the national candy of brazil. i had these delightful babies when i was in brazil back in late 2003/early 2004 and they are yummy! it looks like the recipe makes a lot so i probably won't make them until around christmas time, but i'm saving the recipe here.

Ingredients

2, 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

3 ounces, or 90 grams, semi-sweet chocolate with about around 60 percent cocoa solids, chopped

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup chocolate sprinkles from real chocolate

Preparation

In a medium-heavy bottomed saucepan, place the condensed milk, butter, heavy cream and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

When the mixture starts to bubble, add the chocolate and 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder. Whisk well, making sure there are no pockets of cocoa powder.

Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly until it reaches the consistency of a dense fudgy batter. This takes about eight to 10 minutes. You want the mixture to bubble like lava toward the end so it’s important to use low heat or the sides of the pan will burn. If you undercook it, the brigadeiro will be too soft; if you overcook it, it will be chewy. You know it is done when you swirl the pan around and the mixture leaves a thick burnt residue on the bottom of the pan.

Slide the mixture into a bowl. Don’t scrape the pan — you don’t want to integrate any of the burned bottom. Let the mixture cool at room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap

and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours, preferably overnight.

Scoop the mixture by the teaspoonful — or you can use a mini ice cream scoop — and, using your hands, roll each into a little ball about 3/4-inch in diameter, about the size of a chocolate truffle.

Place the sprinkles in a large roasting pan. Roll four to six brigadeiros at a time through the sprinkles, making sure it covers the entire surface.

Store in a plastic container at room temperature for one to two days or up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Serving Size

Makes about 50 brigadeiros