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Cajuzinho
Peanut and cocoa sweets
Cajuzinho: party sweets of peanut, cocoa and condensed milk shaped like little cashews and topped with a peanut
Next to brigadeiros on any children's birthday table in Brazil sit the cajuzinhos, small sweets moulded into the shape of a cashew fruit (caju) and crowned with a single peanut that stands in for the nut. The dough is condensed milk cooked with ground roasted peanuts and a little cocoa until it pulls into a fudge, then rolled in sugar. Each one is chewy, peanutty and gently chocolatey, a bite-size sweet that sits in its own paper case. They are a good make-ahead: shaped cajuzinhos keep for 3 days in a cool place. Undercooking the mixture is the usual problem: soft dough will not hold the cashew shape and slumps in the cases. Chef's tip: oil your hands lightly before shaping and roll each ball into a fat sausage first, then pinch one end narrower to get the cashew outline.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 5 ½ oz roasted unsalted peanutsfinely ground
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ oz butterplus a little for your hands
- 2 ⅞ oz sugarfor rolling
- 24 roasted peanut halvesskinned, for the tops
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 14 oz sweetened condensed milk, 5 ½ oz roasted unsalted peanuts, 1 tbsp cocoa powder and ½ oz butter in a non-stick pan and stir over a medium-low heat until combined.
Step 2: Keep stirring for 10–12 minutes, until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the base of the pan in one mass when you tilt it.
12 minStep 3: Scrape onto a buttered plate and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
Step 4: With lightly buttered hands, roll level teaspoons of dough into balls, then into short, fat cylinders, pinching one end narrower so each looks like a cashew fruit.
Step 5: Roll each in 2 ⅞ oz sugar and press one of 24 roasted peanut halves into the wide end. Set in small paper cases.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 95 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 13 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cajuzinho take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sweetened condensed milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of cocoa powder?
- Drinking chocolate, same amount (sweeter, so cut the sugar).
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