Brazilians love their sweets, possibly even more than Americans, so there is a very vibrant and immensely varied array of desserts, treats, and snacks available anywhere you look in Brazil. Dedicated as we are to bringing Brazilian dining to American audiences through the fusion of churrasco and steakhouse dining, we at Texas de Brazil don’t neglect the sweets! While we can’t possibly bring everything over, we do our best to bring the best.
So, what are the top treats and sweets beloved by Brazilians across the country and around the world? Let’s go through the best options, and talk about what’s on offer at your nearest Texas de Brazil.
Table of Contents
Pudim de Leite Condensado
One of the most common and customized desserts in all of Latin American, this is a condensed milk custard baked until it’s set and a delectable layer of caramel has formed. When the custard is turned out onto a plate, the caramel that settled to the bottom cascades down the sides, leaving you with a firm, soft, and sweet dessert.
This is actually quite a common dessert around the world, with minor variations from region to region. You’ve probably even seen it before, it not tried it yourself, under the most common name: flan. It’s under that name that we offer it in our dessert section, but the concept remains the same.
Some food historians believe the origin of the flan comes from an old Portuguese dish called pudim de priscos, invented by a priest named Manuel Joaquim Machado, though we can’t verify how accurate that history is. No matter where it came from, though, Pudim de Leite Condensado is a perfectly sweet way to finish a churrasco experience.
Mousse de Maracuja
Maracuja is the Brazilian name for the tropical fruit known as pasiflora edulis, aka the passion fruit. While the tropical fruit has been circulating around the world as an exotic flavor for many years, it’s only in Brazil that it is given the reverence we believe it deserves.
Mousse de Maracuja is a passion fruit mousse. It’s made with fresh, ripe passion fruit, added to sweetened mild and condensed milk (the same crème de leite used in the Brazilian flan we just mentioned). The end result is a creamy, tangy, fruity dessert that is so popular in Brazil that many people, when asked, would name it the most important dessert in the country. Obviously, we can’t leave it out here in our restaurants, so it’s one of the stars of the dessert menu at any Texas de Brazil.
Bombocado
Translated as “good bite”, bombocado is a simple, elegant, and surprisingly deep kind of sweet treat. It’s a sort of baked egg custard dessert, but it’s very different from what you might get with the flan, for two reasons. The first is that one of the main ingredients is coconut flakes, which add both a much stiffer texture and a distinct coconut flavor to the resulting confections.
The second is the common, though optional, addition of a hint of parmesan cheese. This adds a deep and complex earthiness to the flavor and elevates it well above and beyond the simple coconut cake it otherwise would have been.
Pave
Pave is a dessert that, depending on how you make it, can be an elegantly-presented no-bake cake, or can feel like a mess of a dump cake. In flavors, construction, and presentation, it’s actually a lot like a tiramisu. It’s a combination of layers of ladyfingers, custard, and chocolate.
One of the interesting things about pave as a dessert is that it’s extremely variable. It often feels like every family has their own recipe for a pave. Some of them are very simple and classic; others incorporate a variety of other flavors, from coconut and white chocolate to pineapple and strawberry. Some even use peanuts! It’s served cold to keep it firm, and it’s an almost unique experience every time you try one.
Brigadeiros
Brigadeiros are a soft, chewy chocolate truffle made with a condensed milk, with the end result feeling like a cross between chocolate truffle and chocolate fudge. Traditionally, they’re made, rolled into balls a little smaller than a golf ball, and then rolled in a coating like chocolate sprinkles, though you can often find them with a wide variety of other coatings, including pistachios, peanuts, coconut flakes, candy bits, and even plain cocoa powder.
Whatever they’re coated in, the best part is the soft and chewy chocolate center. The condensed milk base keeps it soft and gives it more substance than your usual chocolate, so they’re incredible to bite into and savor, and don’t just melt away.
A spin-off dessert, often made for birthday parties, is the bolo de brigadeiro. This is a whole chocolate cake, usually made of three layers of chocolate with chocolate frosting in between, and a brigadeiro filling rounding it out. Often, whole brigadeiros are used to decorate the top. If you’ve never experienced a true “death by chocolate”, this is one way to do it.
Cartola
Another traditional Brazilian dessert, the cartola originates from Pernambuco, but has spread throughout the country and beyond. It’s a very interesting combination of bananas and cheese. Essentially, bananas are peeled and arranged, and a layer of queijo coalho cheese is placed over the top. This cheese, sort of like a firm feta in texture but less salty than a feta cheese, melts nicely to form a layer over the top.
The bananas are fried in butter, and the cheese is topped with cinnamon and sugar, for a sweet-and-savory combination that you won’t find anywhere else. If you’re a fan of bananas foster, but you’ve never tried a cartola, you’re in for a treat.
Beijinho
The beijinho is very similar to the brigadeiro; in fact, they’re made in almost the exact same way, have almost the exact same texture, and are presented the same way. The difference is, brigadeiros are chocolate, and make the chocolate the star of the show. Beijinhos, instead, leave out the chocolate in favor of a coating of coconut. Often, they’re topped with a single clove, to add a potent spiciness toned down by the condensed milk’s sweetness.
One incredible twist is when a dried plum is hollowed out and stuffed with a beijinho, leaving you with a dessert called olho-de-sogra. It’s definitely worth a try if you get the chance!
Bolo de Rolo
This particular dessert is almost, but not quite, familiar to those of us in America who love our cakes. In form factor, it’s a lot like a swiss roll or jelly roll, but the layers of cake are much, much thinner, and the layer of filling is quite different. Instead of a jelly or a cream, that filling is a guava paste, yet another delectable tropical fruit found in Brazil but spreading around the world.
With a very thin layer of cake and a very thin layer of filling, you can get as many as 20 layers in a spiral in a great bolo de rolo. Unfortunately, they’re time-consuming and frequently difficult to prepare, so they’re not as common outside of high-end sweet shops and pastry markets in Brazil. More common are the preparations with thicker layers and fewer spirals, which are less elaborate but no less delicious.
Rabanada
Sweets aren’t just limited to dessert in Brazil; in fact, they’re found in pretty much every meal, and for snacks in between. No one has a sweet tooth quite like a Brazilian! Rabanada is one such example. Stale bread cut into ovals is dipped in milk and eggs, fried in oil, and coated in cinnamon-sugar before being served.
The end result is something almost, but not quite, like French toast. American French toast is usually soft and served with a syrup or fruit. Rabanada is much crispier and crunchier, and the cinnamon-sugar coating makes it sweeter than French toast usually is. As such, it’s not as commonly a breakfast – though it can be – and is instead a popular Christmas treat.
Romeu e Julieta
If you instinctively recognize the name of this treat, you’re in good company. Named after Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, though no one is quite sure why, this dessert is a combination of sweet and savory that is unique to Brazil.
It’s actually extremely simple; all you need is a slice of goiabada, which is a thick paste of guava and sugar, and a similar slice of a fresh white cheese, usually queijo minas or canastra. The sweet and fruity paste paired with the firmer, salty cheese makes it a staple treat for those who like the contrast. Sometimes, you even see it served on toast, as a cheesecake, or even on a pizza, though that one is a little bit out there for some folks.
Bolinhos de Chuva
Many Brazilian treats are small, round, and easy to eat in a bite or two; perfect for picking up on the way to or from a destination as you stroll through the markets and town centers in Brazil. Bolinhos de Chuva is a sweet fried dough, a fritter, dusted with cinnamon and sugar for flavoring.
They’re pretty similar to donut holes and other fried dough desserts found around the world, and they’re often dipped in a bit of caramel or chocolate for an added treat.
Sequilhos
The Brazilian sequilhos are a kind of cookie made of relatively few ingredients. All you need is some condensed milk, egg, vanilla, salt, butter, baking powder, and the main ingredient: corn starch. The end result is a crisp cookie with a subtle flavor and, most importantly, a texture that melts in your mouth.
They’re popular amongst people with a sweet tooth who want something that isn’t as heavy as just about everything else on this list, or as a pairing for another item, like custard, fruit, or even ice cream.
Biscoito de Polvilho
Originating from the south-eastern region of Minas Gerais, these desserts are a uniquely popular cookie made in a round form factor almost like onion rings, though the flavors could not be more different. Biscoito de polviho is a starchy, lightly salted cookie with a puffy shape and a crispy texture.
They’re made from sour cassava starch, a popular ingredient in Brazilian cooking. They are often served accompanying coffee and cheese as a snack, but are found pretty much everywhere from the supermarket to the beach today.
Casadinhos
Another cookie, the casadinhos originate as a wedding cookie. They’re made as a basic cookie with butter, flour, corn starch, eggs, and sugar, and can be flavored subtly with a bit of lemon zest or vanilla. The real confection, though, involves making a sandwich of the cookies.
They’re lightly flattened when they’re baked, and then stuck together using a filling like guava paste or dulce de leche, for a delicious sandwich cookie.
Canjica/Mugunza
Two different names for the same basic dessert, Canjica is found all across Brazil. The dessert is made up of white maize kernels, cooked in milk until soft, often spiced up with some cinnamon, grated coconut, coconut milk, or even condensed milk.
The end result resembles a porridge or something similar to a rice pudding, but obviously corn instead. It’s sweet, it’s simple, and it’s enjoyed year ‘round.
Crème de Papaya
Another tropical fruit makes its appearance, both in Brazil and in our dessert menu at Texas de Brazil; papaya cream, a simple ice cream-style dessert made with papaya, milk, and a crème de cassis liqueur.
It’s cool, it’s creamy, and it’s a delicious fresh way to round out any churrascaria dining you might be doing.
Stop in for More!
At Texas de Brazil, we don’t have all of the Brazilian sweets, because we need to leave room for some American classics as well! When you finish up with our incredible selection of meats, the dessert menu offers many Brazilian favorites like passion fruit mousse, flan, and papaya cream!
But, it also has staples of American culture, like pecan pie, carrot cake, and key lime pie. Whatever you want to enjoy, you can do so at Texas de Brazil!
