How to make Brazilian Candy – Brigadeiro

Remember how I posted about healthy snacking yesterday? Well, pretend like that was someone totally different, because today’s tutorial is for what I like to call “soul food.” Sometimes your soul just needs something sweet that sticks to your ribs. Or hips. Moving on.

17 years ago, when I was a young pup, our family hosted an exchange student from Brazil. She lived with us for a year and became a part of our family. A few years later, I visited her in her hometown of Sao Paulo. Recently, Marcela was able to travel back to the states to join us on our family reunion. How fun, right?

While she was here, she taught us how to make brigadeiro, a Brazilian candy. If you’re white, you’d pronounce that brig-uh-dare-o. If you have a little spice in you, it’s pronounced breeg-uh-day-doo. The second “d” is soft. Almost a mix between a “d” and an “r”. Go ahead, try it out. I’ll wait.

Ok, let’s get back to it. Today, I’d like to teach you how to make brigadeiro. You’ll thank me later. Or perhaps, you’ll be cursing me… No. I think you’ll be thanking me.

How to Make Brigadeiro

Brigadeiro is so easy! Try it out and impress your friends with your exotic candy making skills. 🙂

You can see in the picture above how the color of the candy changes as it cooks. That was Marcela making it. Below are the pictures from when I made it on my own.

OK, now back to Marcela making it! 🙂

As you can see, it’s not that hard. It’s pretty fun. And oh boy, is it delicious! Our family’s favorite thing to do is eat a piece of brigadeiro with an apple. It’s like a chocolate caramel apple. Mmm!

And, just for kicks, here is a funny story that goes along with our beloved brigadeiro. Marcela made a triple batch of this delicious candy, and stored it safely in the fridge while we headed off to Disneyland for the day. The following morning, we opened the fridge to discover nearly half a plate of brigadeiro was gone! It was early morning, we’d been out past midnight the night before…who on earth could have eaten a dozen pieces of candy in just a few hours while we slept?!

The search commenced and we interrogated (aka accused) everyone. When all had provided their alibi and proved their innocence, it was down to just our mother, who was still sleeping off a Disneyland hangover. The matriarch of our large, colorful family – would she do such a thing to us? Her darling children?! We unanimously agreed that yes, she would eat our candy while we slept. Mothers are tricky that way. We’d know, a few of us ARE mothers now.

So, our fearless leader, aka Dad, went in to wake Sleeping Beauty and tell her the story of how half a plate of candy was missing, and wasn’t that the funniest thing? That was his way of gently asking her if she had an alibi without coming right out and accusing her. As the rest of us would have done had we been sent into the den.

Before Dad was able to finish his story, however, Mom ran her hand through her hair…and blinked. What on earth? What was in her hair? As she pulled it out, Dad didn’t even try to stifle his laughter.

Exhibit A: Mom had a CLUMP of brigadeiro in her hair.

The story goes as follows. Mom was having a little bit of pain, so she took some heavy duty pain medicine. In her drugged stupor state, she would crave brigadeiro, get a piece, take a bite, fall asleep, wake up, get another piece, take a bite, and fall asleep.

The mystery was solved and Mom will never live it down.

Theif.

What is your favorite exotic thing to make? Have you ever heard of/tried brigadeiro before?