Brazilian Brigadeiros

My husband's office group had their annual picnic. The highlight of this year's picnic was to be the "Dessert Competition Event". My husband was nominated as one of the judges for the entry but he really wanted me to participate in the event, even if not to compete then as just an honorary entry. I agreed to participate then came the big question of what to make. There were to be roughly a 100 to 120 crowd expected. This was not a mandate from the event organizers but hubby dear wanted me to make something that would atleast cater to 50-60 people.
My dear friend R came to my rescue with three suggestions, Chocolate Truffles, Black Bottom Cupcakes and /or Brigadeiros. I had never heard of either Black Bottom Cupcakes or Brigadeiros so I got curious. After seeing the ingredient list for Black Bottom Cupcakes, I just earmarked the recipe for future and decided to move onto Brigadeiros. And oh la la they caught my fancy. I saw, I made and I won the third prize and no my husband did not score my entry so I won based on other two votes :)

Ingredients (adapted slightly from http://leitesculinaria.com/32758/recipes-brigadeiros.html)
2 Cans Condensed Milk
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2Tbsp Cocoa Powder
60 gms Bittersweet Chocolate Bar
60 gms Milk Chocolate Bar
2 tsp Light Corn Syrup * Optional - I had it I used it :)
1 Cup Chocolate Sprinkles

Implements
Heavy Bottomed Non-stick pan
Wooden Spatula
Mini Baking Cups

Method (followed the video from streetsmartbrazil.com)
1. In a heavy bottomed pan on low-med heat, heat butter, add condensed milk, light corn syrup and bring to a boil stirring.
2. Mix cocoa powder with a little water to dissolve cocoa powder, then add this to the milk mixture. Add the chocolate pieces and go on stirring ...
3. Still more stirring ...almost 40-45 mins maybe more and yes my arms hurt afterwards.
4. The trick to know when it is ready is to part the dough with the spatula, if it takes a while to come back and merge together it is ready. Street Smart Brazil has nicely demonstrated this with a video on you tube.
5. Spread the contents onto a flat plate or a wide pan and set aside to cool in the fridge for 30 mins.
6. To make the balls, spread a little butter on your fingers and palm, with a small spoon pick some brigadeiro mix and roll it into a ball, now roll this ball in chocolate sprinkles and keep them in individual cups. This whole recipe makes about 85 of them.
7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to make them firmer and enjoy.

As a variation, I toasted a few hazelnuts, coated them with Nutella and left them to set in the freezer. Then I rolled the brigadeiro dough flat, added the hazelnut wrapped it and rolled it in the sprinkles. Yummy !!!