Strawberry Brigadeiros
A while ago, I was reading one of my fave blogs, Smitten Kitchen, and for my complete surprise Deb had made the most popular Brazilian candy of all times: brigadeiros. I was even more surprised with the fact brigadeiros had been theme of a New York Times story (not just brigadeiros, but apparently America is rediscovering sweetened condensed milk, one of our main dessert ingredients).
I was really happy the rest of the world can now enjoy these little fudgy balls of deliciousness, and here is my contribution to the list of different flavors to play with. Enjoy!
Strawberry Brigadeiros, or “Bicho de Pé” (makes 50 small balls)
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 tablespoons strawberry jelly
- 1 tablespoon butter
- drops of pink gel food coloring
In a heavy saucepan, mix all ingredients. Cook over medium heat, always stirring, until mixture thickens and pulls from the sides and bottom of the pan. Transfer to a bowl to cool completely. With your hands lightly greased, roll balls (a teaspoon is a good amount) and roll in pink sugar, or sprinkles. Place balls in pretty paper liners.
The Cookie Shop 
INTERESTING 🙂 AND SO CUTE
Sounds like a sweet alternative to chocolate! All the PINK looks divine:)
so cute! I have to make dessert for a party where the theme is orange- I’m going to try this with apricot preserves.
Hi, SS!
Just make sure you process the preserves to get a very thin paste if you don’t want big chunks of fruit in yor brigadeiros.
I hope you like it!
Very nice cupcakes and really very nice blog!!!
Greetings from Spain!!
Carol
I’ve never heard of these, but they are SO cute! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Love the color!
so cute! Love the pink.
very cute, and they sound so versatile too!
As a fellow Brazilian I am a big fun of brigadeiros, which are my all time favorite party candy. My recipe for strawberry brigadeiro is slight different. I don’t use the jelly or food coloring but get the strawberry flavor from jell-0.
Just add an envelop of jello-o to the condensed milk and cook it as usual.
I’ve never tried with other flavors but I bet it would be great too!
Thank you for sharing.
When you add the jell-o do you add a small or large envelope??
Thanks for your help, Vanessa P
I add a small box/envelope
Thank you Annie!! Do you still add the butter??
Yes I still add the butter. If you would like it less sweet.
Add just half of the small package of jello. I’ve heard of people
making it with strawberry flavored nesquik (2 TB spoons) and the
butter as well but have not tried it myself.
I have also made it with ground walnuts. About a cup. It is my favorit actually. You can keep the basic recipe of condensed milk and butter and add just about anything else you like to it.
See this site. It is in Portuguese but you can use google translator. http://cozinhadajanita.blogspot.com/2011/05/receitas-de-brigadeiro-gourmet_06.html
Lots of recipes.
Good luck!
Thank you so much you have been a tremendous help!! I am super excited to try these. And I love the walnut idea!! Happy baking:)
I had trouble with the mixture firming up. I followed directions, cooking mixture till it “pulled away” from sides and bottom of pan. I apparently still didn’t cook it long enough. I figured the mixture would firm up more after it cooled down, but it didn’t. I then tried refrigerating it. Still bad. I had to throw the whole thing out. Very disappointing, considering how appetizing the photo looks.
Pat, it seems you could have cooked it a little bit more – there are differences between brands of sweetened condensed milk (they can be more or less “condensed”), so the cooking time can vary a lot. If you are willing to try it again, I recommend the brand from the Latin food isle of your grocery store. Another tip is you should get a consistency similar to oatmeal, very thick.
I’m sorry it didn’t work the first time!
Oh man, I have to try these soon. They look wonderful. Thanks for the recipe!
Greetings from New Zealand!
I would like to try these for my sons 5th birthday party. I was thinking Bright blue red and yellow ones to go with our superhero theme.
How big is the can of condensed milk you used for this recipe? Our cans are 395gms, just wondering if we have the same size cans?
Love your work.
Carly
Hi, Carly! Thank you 🙂
The cans here are the same size as yours, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Please let me know how it worked out, ok? And happy b-day to your boy!
I cooked until the mixture came away from the side of the pot but I might’ve overcooked it because I set it aside to cool and it set hard. I couldn’t even pull the spoon out.
What kind of consistency should the brigadeiros be once they are the finished product?
The blue was a little difficult to achieve as the condensed milk is a slightly yellow colour to begin with this mised with blue colouring turned the mixture green.
Hi, Carly! Sounds like you overcooked it a little. I found a youtube video ith brigadeiro instructions, maybe it helps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHOtPxJ9rdc&feature=related
I tried to make these with the jelly as recommended and it did not work for me. The consistency was just like curdled milk, not pleasant at all. Maybe it was something I did or maybe it was the jelly I used but it did not for me. I came back to read the feedback and saw the suggestion to use the packet of strawberry jello. I love it. Worked great and it was even quicker than normal. Thanks a bunch! Great site!
These look great , so I tried to make them and no luck, would not form into a ball. 😦
Didnt work for me. I cooked it until it was nice and thick and then let it cool. The mixture was soft and sticky, could not get it into a ball. Tried refrigerating the mix, hoping that would help. Still no-go. Maybe next time I’ll try and cook it longer.
These look amazing, and easy to make 🙂
Hello,to answer the question where the brigadeiro mixture turned up curdled ,mix all the ingredients minus the jello, bring to a simmer ,stir constantly for about 10 minutes until you see the bottom if you swish it from side to side and don’t get discouraged,I’m from Brazil and it took a lot of trial and errors to get it right 🙂
Hello, how do you get an overall pink coat without any brown showing from the ball?
I’m brazilian and i’ve to say… awesome. condensed milk its fantastic, you can use chocolate too. Its the most popular candy here and everybody here likes, EVERYBODY.
These turned out great for me! thank you so much for sharing!
For future reference, if I ever mess them up.. If i accidentally under cook, can I put the mixture back into the pot and re cook it? and to the opposite, If i accidentally over cook it can i re cook the mixture with a bit of water to thin it out?
I make jelly and jams, that is what I would do if i messed up a batch of that and this seems like a similar process.
I made these as a treat for valentines, but I am not sure if they will make it anywhere but in my belly 🙂
Hi Genevieve! If its too soft you can cook a little bit more, but you can’t fix it if it’s overcooked. I’m happy you liked it!
Do you think you can freeze them once they are made into balls? I would love to make these for a cookie exchange!
Yes, you can freeze them.