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Danactive tastes better, does more, is healthier and only costs .50 cents a bottle.

hum... as a Brazilian, it shamed me that I had never attempted to make these... of course I avoided it not because it's difficult, but because of the potential damage to my waist line.

It is common to use unsweetened cocoa for a more adult version of the treat. Made with Nesquick (which in Brazil is a strawberry flavored powder), these are called Bicho de Pé, and with coconut, Beijinho.

My mother always adds 1 can of milk cream to the mix, for a creamier result... Made this way, its an AWESOME cake filling or topping, and perfect to eat with a spoon.

About the cook until unsticks part of the recipe, I also thought it vague until I made them for the first time. Its pretty obvious when you're making them: Basically, after scrapping off the walls of the pot for some time, the mix starts to cling more to the spoon than to the pan. It also becomes heavier and thick, much like porridge.

There are plenty of different gourmet versions to sell here, rolled in different toppings or sold in little clear plastic cups with a tiny spoon (called Brigadeiro de Colher). This can even be made in a microwave. The sky is the limit!

Sweet jesus, I think my Brazilian friend made me something like this way back when in 1997...and the memory of being in her kitchen and snacking on these chocolate nubbins is strangely vivid, but not surprising cos THEY WERE SOOOGOOOOOD.

Okay, I want some more.

@A Miscelanea de Mariana and @Carioca--thank you both very much for your helpful tips and suggestions. That's one of the reasons I love SE.
You're correct about the addictive quality of these little gems, too. Because they're so decadent but easy and cheap to make, I can feed that addiction quickly--dang you, Melody. I will dedicate the next five pounds of additional thigh to you.

I didn't have NesQuik, so I mixed together 1 Tbsp. of cocoa powder and 1 Tbsp. of powdered sugar before adding it to the Eagle brand milk. It worked. I'd bet you'd be able to use Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix, too. I think I'll try substituting milk powder, dry coffee creamer or some flavor of coffee powder for the Nesquik and add them to my usual Christmas candy gift boxes with the strawberry variation above.

I licked the spoon and went "Whoa!" It was rich, so I rolled the mixture into small balls, about the size of malted milk balls. I didn't think to count how many I made. In a house with four adults and two little kids, there are 14 left.

We rolled some in chocolate jimmies, some in multi-colored sprinkles and some in Cocoa Crispies. It was all good.

I could imagine this as a frosting for brownies or eclairs, a cake filling or as an ice cream topping.

Yum. Want.

These are delicious. I've had them in other flavors too, so I wonder if you can use other flavors of drink powders.

Alright, allow me. I'm a Carioca afterall.

In Brazil, the chocolate drink powder of choice would be their version of Nesquick. I guess you could use Ovaltine, or cocoa powder. The difference would be in sweetness. In fact, the Brazilian version of Nesquick is Nescau, which, believe it or not, is quite a bit sweeter than Nesquick, so American brigadeiros are never quite the same.

step number 2 means that the mixture will be bubbling and actually detaching from the sides and bottom of the pan. The sides and bottom will be coated with the chocolate mixture, but the bulk of it will be gooey, and will easily fall off the sides and bottom if you tilt the pan. I hope this helps.

Very important: if you are going to coat the brigadeiros (step 4) make sure you coat your hands generously with butter. I thought it odd they didn't mention that, because it's pretty impossible to roll them into balls without coating your hands several times.

For a twist, you can crumble some cookies (in Brazil you'd do it with simple Maria cookies) and mix it in after you take it off the heat. Then you spread it on a cookie sheet.... when they are cool, you cut them into 1' squares, and then you coat it with sugar! I think these are called "frescurinhas".

So glad to see brigadeiros in SE!

ryushin... yeah I posted about scratch pudding. But only because the cooked mixes are HARDER to cook than scratch. With cooked pudding mixes you have to endlessly stir to prevent sticking, and carefully use gentle heat. It sucks!

Someone could make a pudding mix where the starch was separate from the sugar/flavoring. But until then, from scratch is much quicker and easier than any cooked pudding mix.

No reason for pudding mixes to have anything artificial, it's just sugar, flavor (coca powder for chocolate) and starch. They do need a modified food starch for instant pudding so that it sets up without heating (I don't think any natural starches have that characteristic).

Oh my god. I was in Philly -- IN Franklin Square -- two days ago and did not know this Cake Shake existed. I am so sad.

That looks gigantic. Probably my husband and I will have to split one when we go try it out :)

This will be in my guts the moment I am back to visit the old stomping grounds. Maybe I can try to make a shake with the Krimpets my mum sent me. Neeeeed.

There is a bar/restaurant called Maru on 32nd street in KTown NYC that serves a cocktail featuring this little drink. It is so tasty! If you are a fan, I would go seek this out.

I was excited to find this in the local market, bought it, and then discovered it was made in Mexico. My concern is that there have been so many recalls recently on food products made in Mexico. Thoughts/input welcome. Thanks.