Brigadeiros or Chocolate Cannonballs?

Recipe

Brigadeiros are traditionally made from condensed milk, sweetened cocoa powder and butter. Cooked to a fudge consistency,  rolled into little balls and coated in chocolate granules (sprinklers).

Ingredients
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1oz of butter
3 large tablespoons of cocoa powder
Chocolate 100s and 1000s (chocolate granules) for decoration

Method
Place cocoa powder, condensed milk and butter in heavy saucepan. Heat the mixture slowly on low heat stirring constantly until resembles a fudge like consistency, but not too stiff. If you cook the mixture too long the it becomes too hard and is chewy. Remove from saucepan, put into a dish and allow to cool completely. Pour chocolate 100s and 1000s onto a plate.
Grease your hands with butter or margarine before rolling the chocolate mixture in to little balls as this prevents it sticking to your hands as you form into balls.

Brigadeiros are an extremely popular treat at children’s birthday parties in Brazil. However, they are also a perfect treat for Piglet with a nice cup of coffee. Hmmmm… delicious and so moreish!

I’m also going to try this recipe by http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/brigadeiros.htm which includes salt and vanilla.

Extra info
Fernanda’s Mum adds an extra dimension to Brigadeiros by inserting a cherry inside (a cherry in syrup). “If you buy candied cherries (with all that sugar involving them) put them on water for a while to remove the excess sugar and the inside the brigadeiro”.

I am definitely going to try this!

I like the name “chocolate cannonballs” but perhaps not PC for children.

History

According to Wikipedia Brigadeiros are a popular Brazilian sweet created in the 1940s. They were named after Eduardo Gomes a Brazilian Brigadier and revolutionary who later ran unsuccessfully for the presidency.  So why call a sweet after this guy? Intrigued I researched further and found a plausible explanation here

In the 1940s while Brazil was at war there was a shortage of imported sweets. Cocoa powder had just been introduced to Brazil by Nestlé, and this, teamed with condensed milk, made a delicious chocolate fudge truffle sweet. This sweet proved extremely popular and a favorite with Eduardo Gomes.

1945 was the first year women could vote in the Presidential elections and Eduardo Gomes was one of the candidates. The women who supported him sold the chocolate fudge truffle sweet to raise money for the campaign.

His campaign slogan “Vote no brigadeiro, que é bonito e é solteiro” (Vote for the brigadier, who’s good-looking and single). Although he was not elected president, Brazil now had a name for this popular sweet “Brigadeiros”.

Fernanda (See comments below) completes the puzzle and tells us the ““cake” already existed before as “negrinho” and it seems that in some areas of Brasil it’s still called this way.”