Thai Tea Brigadeiro
Makes 10 Brigadeiro
Thai Tea Brigadeiro Recipe
A traditional brigadeiro is made from sweetened condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder, cooked together until it reaches a fudge-like consistency, then rolled into small balls and typically coated with chocolate sprinkles. If you've never had one, stop what you're doing and go try one—if you have, then you already know how delightful these little truffles are.
I recently learned that brigadeiros have a ton of political lore. The dessert is said to have been named after Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, a former Brazilian former presidential candidate. During his campaign, his supporters began selling the treat at political rallies to raise money, associating the chocolate treat with his name. As a result, the sweet became known as "brigadeiro." The first time I ate these sweets as a kid in Miami and, only a few months ago, made them myself for the first time. I wasn’t surprised to learn that the key ingredient is sweetened condensed milk—my all-time favorite ingredient.
As you may know, I brought back pounds and pounds of Thai tea mix back with me from Thailand and I'm churning my way through it by making as many Thai tea-flavored recipes as I humanely can and as such, these Thai tea brigaderios were born! This recipe makes just under two cups of Thai tea concentrate and although you'll only be using one tablespoon of this mixture for the recipe, I encourage you to make a glass of Thai tea with the rest or bake other recipes with it (I have a ton on my site!).
Ingredients
- 1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup Thai tea leaves (such as ChaTraMue brand)
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for rolling (buttery hands time!)
- 1/2 cup sprinkles
Directions
- Make the Thai tea concentrate: In a saucepan, add water and Thai tea mix in a loose tea stepper bring the mixture to a boil and then let simmer for 5 to 6 minutes; set aside to cool. You'll only be using one tablespoon of this mixture, but I personally make it in bulk to drink as tea or use in other recipes.
- Rinse the saucepan and add the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate chips, butter, and 1 tablespoon of Thai tea concentrate.
- Bring to mixture boil over medium heat, stirring non-stop with a silicone spatula. REALLY, DO NOT STOP STIRRING, or else the mixture will burn.
- Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and continue mixing and cooking the mixture until it becomes thick and you can run a spoon through the middle of the pan and it takes a few moments to form back together, about 10 minutes. If you keep going, it'll get thicker like taffy taffy but I like it still pretty pliable so it's easy to roll.
- Once you like the consistency, add to a lightly greased bowl and place in the fridge covered to let completely cool for at least an hour (up to overnight).
- Once you're ready to roll the balls, rub butter over your hands and scoop small amounts of the mixture (about two tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Once formed, roll through the sprinkles. Repeat until all of the brigadeiro are made.
