Coffee brigadeiro – the crossing of two national passions

Photo and yummy sweet by Luciene Evans
by Luciene Evans*

I have been told I created a recipe that promises to become a new traditional candy on the tables of kids’ birthday parties.

It happened like this: while organizing my daughter’s birthday party, I learned that one of the children I invited was allergic to chocolate, peanut and coconut. These are the main ingredients in the three most famous and traditional Brazilian candies we serve at birthday parties in Brazil – brigadeiro, cajuzinho and beijinho. I was planning to serve all these during my girl’s party, but I decided I would make something different, that the allergic kid could eat without risk, and, at the same time, something everybody else would enjoy as well.

After some thought, I came up with an idea for a recipe that combined the traditional brigadeiro with our passion for coffee, and made a “brigadeiro de café/ coffee brigadeiro”. Of course, there are other recipes of brigadeiro de café out there, but they include chocolate, nuts and even coffee liqueur. Kind of complicated, isn’t it? Mine has much less ingredients, is equally delicious, and so easy everybody can make. Check it out!

1 cup condensed milk
½ cup table cream
3 teaspoons instant powder coffee (I prefer decaf for the kids)

Mix all ingredients in a medium pan and take to medium flame. Do not stop stirring till the mix gets loose from the bottom of the pan. Let it cool off. Pass some butter on your hands and make little balls with the mix. You can roll the candies on decorative sugar, and put them in individual bonbon forms.

Ah, and if you put less coffee, it will taste like caramel. This means you can use the same ingredients to make two different candies. Cool, isn’t it?

Read also: 6 Brazilian cakes, Brazilian coffee – children’s delight and 7 Brazilian comfort foods.

* Luciene Evans is a Brazilian journalist that writes children literature and loves to throw parties.