The brigadeiro is a delicious chocolate dessert from Brazil. It’s been a favourite in the country since the 1940s and is still sold in bakeries and shops and made by Brazilians at home.
It was the brainchild of Heloisa Nabuco de Oliveira, a confectioner from Rio de Janeiro. It is incredibly popular in Brazil and now, thanks to emigration, in other countries Brazilians call home.
The confection was named in honour of Brigadier Eduardo Gomes — a presidential candidate in 1945.
It became quite popular at the time — likely because it was delicious, easy to make and could be made with perishable ingredients that were easy to obtain when typical dessert ingredients like fresh fruits and nuts were being rationed for war time.
If you could get your hands on condensed milk, cocoa powder or chocolate powder and butter, you could make Brigadeiro.
It was truly a treat for the people.
In his 1945 presidential campaign, Gomes rallied against populism and became the face of a new political party and movement aimed at dismantling it — União Democrática Nacional, the National Democratic Union.
Votes from Brazilian women were critical in this election as it was the first that allowed all women in the country to vote. Beforehand, only women who had their husbands’ permission, single women earning an income, and widows were allowed to vote. In an effort to get the majority of the female vote, Gomes played up his bachelor status. In fact, one of his campaign slogans was:
“Vote no brigadeiro, que é bonito e é solteiro”
…which translates to:
“Vote for the brigadier, who’s good-looking and single.”
It worked with some women who sold the chocolates in support of Gomes’ campaign. He lost the election and lost again in 1950 when he ran for a second time, but the Brigadeiro lives on, beloved by many.
Ingredients
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 tbsp chocolate powder (like Nestle Quik) or cocoa powder*
- 2 tbsp butter or margarine, plus more for hands
- chocolate sprinkles
- pinch of salt
- candy cups (to hold finished chocolates)
Instructions
- Sift the chocolate or cocoa and the salt together into a pot.
- Add the condensed milk and butter and stir together with a silicon spatula to mix well.
- Put the pot over medium-high heat and stir it constantly until the mixture starts to bubble. Turn the heat to simmer.
- Stir constantly to prevent the mixture from burning and scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to ensure it doesn't stick and burn. It will slowly caramelize and thicken up.
- You will need to cook it in this way for about 10 minutes, until you can scrape your spatula through the middle and the mixture slowly fills in the gap, or until you can tilt the pan and the mixture sort of slumps to the bottom in one piece.
- Turn the heat off and scrape the mixture into a bowl or onto a greased marble slab. Allow it to cool to room temperature. You can also refrigerate it.
- While it cools, cover the bottom of a shallow bowl with sprinkles.
- To form the brigadeiro, grease your hands with butter. Scoop out a teaspoon or tablespoon of the mixture and roll it between your palms to form a ball. Place the ball in the sprinkles and roll around gently to coat. Place in a candy cup.
- Repeat step 8 until you have no more chocolate mixture to roll.
- Store for a couples days at room temperature or about a week in the fridge.
Notes
*In Brazil it is more common to make these using Nestle Quik chocolate powder than cocoa powder, but if you cannot find it, cocoa powder works, too.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadeiro
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-did-the-brigadeiro-become-popular
The Political Lore of an Iconic Brazilian Sweet – Gastro Obscura (atlasobscura.com)
