Ask a Brazilian what they ate at every birthday party of their childhood and the answer is brigadeiro. Not cake — brigadeiro. A small, dense, rolled sweet that turns up in a paper case on every table, at every age, without exception.
It is the most Brazilian thing on our menu, and once you understand it, a lot of the rest of what we make starts to make sense.
What it actually is
Brigadeiro is a traditional Brazilian sweet made from a condensed milk caramel. That is the whole of it. Condensed milk and cocoa, cooked down slowly in a pan until it thickens enough to hold its shape, then rolled and coated. There is no cream, no butter emulsion, no tempering — nothing that would let you hide a mistake.
Which is exactly why it is hard to do well. Cook it too little and it slumps; too far and it turns grainy and tight. The window is narrow and there is nowhere for an error to go.
Where the name comes from
The story most Brazilians will tell you is that it is named after Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, an air force brigadier who ran for president in 1945. Supporters made and sold the sweets at campaign events. He lost the election. The sweet is still here eighty years later, which is a reasonable trade.
The cake built on it
Brigadeiro is not only eaten on its own. Our Thunder Cake — the most requested chocolate cake we make — layers velvety chocolate sponge with brigadeiro rather than buttercream. That is the entire difference between it and an ordinary chocolate cake: instead of something whipped and airy, you get something dense, silky and fudgy that holds against the sponge.
You can try it as a single slice before committing to a whole one. We wrote more about it in our guide to chocolate desserts in Christchurch.
And the cake nobody expects it on
Brazilian carrot cake is the one that surprises New Zealanders. It is bright orange rather than brown, has no cinnamon, no walnuts and no cream cheese — and instead of frosting it is drizzled with warm chocolate brigadeiro. We explained the whole thing in a separate piece, because it genuinely does not sound like it should work.
The wider Brazilian shelf
If brigadeiro is your entry point, the rest follows naturally. Pudim caramel flan is the dense, silky Brazilian answer to crème caramel. The Romeo & Juliet cheesecake pairs white chocolate cheesecake with guava. The Anthill is a Brazilian coconut bundt, and pão de queijo — warm Brazilian cheese scones — are the savoury counterpart, made with no added gluten and best straight from the oven. As with everything we make, our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur and nothing is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
How to try it
Brigadeiro is $2 and sits in the cabinet at our patisserie inside The Welder, alongside the rest of our sweet treats. Buy one, buy six — nobody has ever regretted the second. For the full picture, browse the menu or the chocolate cake range. We are open Tuesday to Saturday.
