Recipe: Brazilian Brigadeiro Tart
Those of you following the blog probably have seen (and maybe even tried) my delicious Brigadeiro recipe (if you haven’t…it’s to die for…like, seriously, go. make. it. now!!!! Sorry for the forcefulness…something as good as Brigadeiro is nothing to joke about, though!). If you don’t know what Brigadiero is, here’s the (chocolatey) lowdown: it’s an extremely popular Brazilian dessert, made up of chocolate-caramel truffles rolled in chocolate sprinkles or shaved chocolate. There’s all sorts of variations of course, like some with coconut or white chocolate!
Knowing how yummy Brigadeiro is, I decided I wanted to make another Brigadeiro-inspired dessert aside from my Brigadeiro macarons (I sell those at my macaron shop, Poeme Macarons!). That led to the creation of this tart–an elegant, adult (one who’s a child-at-heart, though!) spin on the Brazilian childhood favorite, Brigadeiro.
I use a rich, not-too-sweet chocolate tart crust and fill it with decadent Brigadeiro filling. To make a clean, shiny topping, there’s a luscious chocolate glaze that gets poured on top. Then (of course!) I put some chocolate sprinkles to emulate that traditional Brigadeiro look (if you want a more elegant finish, feel free to use some shaved dark chocolate instead).
This tart is absolutely incredible…if you’re ever feeling a chocolate craving, this will do the trick…and more! My boyfriend couldn’t stop eating it…this tart may or may not have been eaten in one day…by two people…
Anyways…ahem…if you’re looking for some more delicious tart recipes, check out my Orange Pistachio Temptation Tart (it has temptation in the name, how could you not try it?) or my Swiss Pecan-Caramel Tart. Both are impressive and (most importantly) super tasty!
And now, here’s the Brigadeiro Tart recipe:
Brigadeiro Tart Recipe
Ingredients
1 8-inch Tart Pan, with removable bottom
For the Chocolate Tart Crust:
- 3/4 cup AP Flour
- 3 tbsp. Cocoa powder (dutch-processed preferred)
- 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter; 1/8 tsp. if not)
- 1/4 cup almond flour you can make this at home–just grind up almonds in a food processor or blender (I recommend using blanched almonds if you don't want skins showing in the dough).
- 4 1/2 tbsp. butter, diced and chilled
- 2 1/2 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. Kahlua, or other chocolate-coffee liqueur (optional)
- 3 tbsp. beaten egg (around one egg)
For Brigadeiro Filling:
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp. butter, softened
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp. Kahlua (optional)
For Chocolate Glaze:
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 3/4 oz. dark chocolate
- 1 tsp. light corn syrup You can also use honey here if you want to avoid the corn syrup!
- 1 tbsp. warm water
Instructions
To Make the Crust:
- In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), place the flour, butter, cocoa powder, salt, sugar, and ground almonds. Using your hands, a pastry cutter, or the paddle mixer attachment, mix the dough until it looks like breadcrumbs (it will look sandy; you can also check it by trying to form a ball from the mixture–if it holds, it is ready).
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and Kahlua (if using) and mix the dough until just combined. Push together the dough further with your fingers. Form the dough into a flat disk and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour.TIP: You can make the dough up to three days ahead of time; just bake it whenever you want to continue making the tart! It also will freeze well, if you want to have some in reserve (you never know when the Brigadeiro-tart fever will strike!).
- Take the chilled dough out of the fridge. Put down a large sheet of parchment paper and then the dough disk on top of it. Cover the dough with another sheet of parchment. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough (over the parchment sheets), until it forms about an 11-inch circle.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Take off the top sheet of parchment and flip the dough, with the bottom parchment still attached, onto the tart pan (centering it as best as possible). Lift up the other parchment sheet and gently press down the dough into the tart pan. Cut off the excess edges and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. TIP: I LOVE using the excess dough to make some easy shortbread cookies. Just roll out the dough to around 1/4-inch thickness and cut out some shapes using cookie cutters and bake them for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Delicious shortbread, and you didn't even have to do much extra work for it 🙂
- Now we're going to do some "blind baking." If you've never heard of this before, this is the process of baking a tart crust without overbrowning it (often for tarts that use fillings that don't require baking, like this one). To do this, cut out a ring of parchment slightly larger than the tart crust, then fill it with baking beads or uncooked rice or beans (make sure you have some parchment peeking out that you can lift the parchment ring out of the tart pan easily with). Bake the crust with the filled parchment for 15 minutes.
- Carefully, remove the filled parchment and bake the tart for another 10-15 minutes, until set on the bottom. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing the crust from the pan. Place on a serving plate or baking sheet and set aside.
To Make Brigadeiro Filling:
- Combine all ingredients together in a medium-sized saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat, stirring continuously, for around 3-4 minutes. For the tart, I do not cook the Brigadeiro filling to the same thickness as in my Brigadeiro recipe, as I want the filling to be a little less chewy for the tart. It will be ready once it starts thickening slightly and bubbling. Immediately pour the filling into the cooled tart crust, leaving about 1/4 inch empty at the top. If you have any leftover Brigadeiro filling, you can use it to make some Brigadeiros on the side of the tart (just cook it for a bit longer, following my easy Brigadeiro recipe).
- Let cool in the fridge until set, about 30-40 minutes.
To Make the Chocolate Glaze:
- Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan until almost boiling. Take off the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until melted. Then stir in the corn syrup and warm water, until combined.
- Pour the chocolate glaze in the tart, using a spatula or spoon to spread the glaze across the entire top.
- At this point, I recommend topping with Chocolate Sprinkles for the traditional Brigadeiro-look. You can also top it with shaved chocolate pieces, if you want a more elegant look.
- Let tart cool and set completely, around one hour (refrigerated).
- Serve and enjoy…maybe with some Brigadeiros on the side 🙂
Notes
Happy baking, everyone!
