I found a can of sweetened condensed milk that was about to expire and new exactly what to do with it – make some Brazilian candies! I did happen to have some dried coconut, which meant I was prepared to make Beijinhos de Coco (literally little coconut kisses). If there isn’t a cookbook written by a Brazilian on making sweets with sweetened condensed milk, there should be. While living in Brazil I tasted it in candies, cakes, mousses and even saw someone line the inside of the bowl with it before adding ice cream to make a sundae. Who would have thought? Sweetened condensed milk is handier than you might think!
Beijinhos de Coco (Brazilian Coconut Candies)
Ingredients
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup shredded, dried coconut
More coconut or sugar for coating the candies
Instructions
I know people who make this in the microwave, but I like to keep my eyes on things and prefer the stovetop. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook the mixture, stirring almost non-stop, until the entire mass comes together and pulls away from the saucepan easily.
When to stop is the only real trick here. When I say that the entire mass should come together, I mean that it becomes almost one big lump and can easily be scraped away from the pan. This will take about 15 minutes and you may need to turn the heat down during the process so that the candy at the bottom of the saucepan doesn’t burn. Even if you do things perfectly, the pan will likely be a sticky mess to clean once you’ve finished.
When the mass of candy is ready, spread it onto a plate to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, you can lick the spoon to see if it tastes good (it will.) Have the extra coconut or sugar ready in a shallow bowl.
Once the candy is cool enough to handle, take a bit at a time and roll it between your palms to make a ball and then roll it in the coating of your choice. Set aside. Repeat until you’ve used up all the candy. As you can see in my photo, I’m not overly concerned about making them uniform in size. I ended up with 25 candies, but you could easily make 30. Some people put a clove in beijinhos for decoration, but I don’t find it necessary. They are usually served in mini-cupcake liners at events, but I couldn’t find any.
If you can, try to wait and eat the candy the next day. It will taste good immediately, but the sugar coating hardens overnight and makes a crunchy exterior that is really nice with the squishy interior. Enjoy!
