Looking at the photo you might be forgiven for thinking that these delectable looking Brazilian sweeties are a traditional rum truffle, based on either a cream or a cake-crumb recipe (check out our easy-peasy marzipan sweets, chocolate salami and quick mocha fudge too!).
They are actually like little fudgey treats, made from condensed milk and heated for around 10-15 minutes until it becomes lovely and thick. Traditionally they are flavoured with a little cocoa, but I like to add a tablespoon of rum at the end as well for a little festive treat; please feel free to use your favourite liqueur of choice or maybe add a pinch of chilli and dried chopped cherries, or orange zest and chopped nuts etc! Made in the winter they should be fine left out of the fridge for up to a week, but in summer they can tend to lose their shape a little (who doesn’t?!), so are best kept somewhere cool; they can be popped in the freezer too, so are perfect when you are trying to get ahead batch-making home-made edible Christmas gifts!
My top tip for success would be to involve a child or teenager in the assembly process (in my case, my nephew Vince is the ideal companion); you might lose a few as they succumb to temptation but having one person roll the balls while the other dips them in the chocolate strands makes everything much quicker and easier!
Ingredients (makes about 20)
397g tin of condensed milk
75g chocolate vermicelli (there should be plenty left over)
25g butter
25g cocoa (some recipes call for more but I find too much cocoa can give the truffles a powdery, gritty texture)
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of rum
Oil or butter for greasing your hands
- Place the condensed milk, butter, cocoa and salt in a medium sized saucepan and put over a medium-low heat on the stove.
- Melt the ingredients together and then continue to cook for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring and scraping the pan continuously until the mixture has thickened; if you draw your wooden spoon along the bottom of the saucepan it should take a good 3 seconds for the fudge to refill the space (you can also check the mixture with a digital thermometer, about 96 degrees celsius seems to be optimum!).
- Remove from the heat and beat in the rum (or any other flavourings you are using).
- Allow the mixture to cool on the side then place in the fridge for a good two hours or overnight to firm up.
- Rub a little oil or butter on your hands to stop the sweets sticking, then take a teaspoonful of the fudge and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Dip and roll each ball in the chocolate strands to finish; they look very pretty served in paper petit-four cases, or layered between sheets of greaseproof paper in a vintage tin as a festive gift.
