Brigadeiros

                                                                                 

                                                                                 
Brigadeiros are little chocolate/fudge truffle balls that originated in Brazil. They have a caramel and chocolate flavor with a fudge-like texture. It's traditional to serve them in little paper truffle cups. Store these chocolates in the refrigerator until they are ready to serve. When I first tasted a brigadeiro some three years ago, my taste-buds felt like they'd hit the jackpot! These little gems are so sinfully good! And when I found out how simple they are to make, I set out to make them immediately. Since then, they always make it on my goodie exchange every holiday season. Since the
Serving Size: Makes about 25 brigedeiros.
Ingredients:
-2 14-ounce cans of sweetened, condensed milk.
-8 tablespoons cocoa powder.
-1/2 teaspoon salt.
-6 tablespoons unsalted butter.
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
-Chocolate sprinkles or ground pistachios for decoration.

                                                                      

TIP: I used the following to sprinkle my brigadeiros-Rainbow sprinkles; white sprinkles; gold sprinkles; finely crushed roasted pistachios; graham crackers mixed with a little bit of chili powder; unsweetened cocoa powder;colored, sweetened coconut flakes. Traditionally, chocolate jimmies are used, but I didn't have any at hand so I made do with what I had in my pantry.

                                                                                        

 Instructions:
-Pour the condensed milk into your heaviest pot. Stir in the cocoa powder and the salt.

                                                                                 

-Cook the mixture on medium heat, stirring constantly. Keep the mixture barely at a boil to prevent burning and sticking.

                                                                                       

-Cook the mixture on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring, until mixture becomes very thick and shiny and starts to pull away from the bottom and sides of the pan.

                                                                                      

-Remove from heat and stir in the butter and the vanilla.

                                                                                    

-Pour the mixture into a container and smooth it out to make it even.
-Place the container in the refrigerator and chill for 20 to 30 minutes until the mixture is not too sticky to handle.

                                                                                          

-Use a small cookie scoop or two tablespoons to scoop up the chocolate from the container, onto your hands.

                                                                                 

-With lightly greased hands, roll the mixture into 1 inch balls.
-Roll each ball in the topping of your choice, and place in mini baking a paper cup.
-To store, chill in the refrigerator in single layers separated by wax paper until ready to serve.