Happy Brazilian Independence Day! Brigadeiro & pão de queijo recipes.

Last Monday, 7 de Setembro, was Brazilian Independence Day. So two nights ago, my friends and I celebrated it with a Brazilian dinner (it was their first), complete with cachaça & caipirinhas, pão de queijo (little cheese balls with the most delectable gummy texture), feijoada (Brazilian national dish), palmito (heart of palm - my very last precious jar I hand-carried back from Brazil, I absolutely love this), and of course...some brigadeiros!

Hand-painted bottle of artesanal cachaça we hand-carried from Parati

Caipirinha de limão

Pão de Queijo - these are seriously 2D4! I could live on these!

Salada de palmito & vinagrete (to accompany the churrasco/barbeque over charcoal)

Xin xim de galinha (we also had moqueca)

Dora the explorer helped us out in rolling out the brigadeiros (typically they are rolled all around in chocolate sprinkles)

Ok, we did not eat these! Earlier in the day, as hubby was trimming the overgrown jasmin bush/hedge in our front garden, he stopped in time to see this gorgeous bird's nest in the vines/hedge, look at the gorgeous little eggs (they look like Easter eggs)! Thankfully he was able to trim around it so that it remained hidden...

Feliz dia da Independência!

Brigadeiros (the easy/microwave method)

Ingredients

1 can of condensed milk

1tbsp of butter

4tbsp of chocolate powder

1 packet of chocolate sprinkles

Little paper cups

Method

1. Place all ingredients in a deep bowl and mix with a spoon.
2. Place in microwave on 'high' for 2 minutes, stir, repeat for further 2 min, stir, repeat once more, until it is homogeneous.
3. Remove the mixture from the microwave, and wait for it to cool, roll them into small balls (you may need to 'butter' your hands), roll it in the chocolate sprinkles (preferably the long kind not little dots, if you know what I mean), place in little paper cup, and enjoy! I'm not sure how many one batch makes, I usually double or triple, and then don't count them, as I end up eating them as I roll them, haha!