Brigadeiro is the national candy of Brazil. With the size of a truffle and the taste of fudge, Brazilians are wild about them. One bite may be all it takes for you to quickly count them among your favorite indulgences as well. To make these molten cakes, I took the brigadeiro in its fudge state and developed the recipe to become an irresistible flow of melted fudge, since so many Brazilians (including me) can’t even wait until their brigadeiro is cool before indulging. My experimentation turned into a great recipe!
A word of advice about these molten cakes: Butter and flour the foil containers or ramekins really well. It’s so frustrating when a cake doesn’t come out of the container properly and part of it is left behind. So don’t rely on a thin coating of grease spray; use soft butter—not melted—and shake off the excess flour.
If you are making these in advance, either cover each filled foil cup/container with plastic wrap or place the filled foil cups/containers inside a large, airtight container and close the lid, then refrigerate. They can then be cooked from chilled, but you will need to add an extra 1–2 minutes to the total cooking time, or bring them to room temperature before baking.
I like to serve these with ice cream, but fresh fruit and whipped cream are also good accompaniments.
Excerpted from “Babka, Boulou & Blintzes: Jewish Chocolate Recipes from Around the World” by Michael Leventhal. Reprinted with permission. Originally posted on JewishBoston.com.
