A sweet taste from my childhood

This a very simple sweet treat, ideal for birthday parties. In Brazil, no birthday party for children is complete without it. When we went to Brazil in 1994, our children were little and our elder son, who was around 10 years old, couldn't have enough of them. They are called "Brigadeiro."

More recently, I introduced the guests to Peter's birthday lunch party to these delights and I must say, they didn't last very long...

Ingredients

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (400g/14oz)
4 soupspoons of cocoa. (I used half a 200g/8oz bar of dark chocolate, i.e. 100g/4oz).
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
Chocolated strands/ granulated chocolate

Preparation

Pour the condensed milk into a pan, mix the chocolate (straight if powder, melted in the microwave or bain marie if using the other option), add the butter. Cook it on low heat, mixing all the time until it comes off the bottom of the pan.

Spread the mix onto a plate and wait for it to be cool enough to be handled. Rub some butter onto hands, get a small portion of the mix with a teaspoon, roll into a ball, roll it into the chocolate strands and place it in a small paper cup. Do it until the mixture is finished. A more "grown-up" alternative is to roll the little balls into some cocoa instead of the chocolate strands.

You may have to wash your hands a few times during the rolling because your hands will become sticky and it will be difficult to roll the little balls properly.

Unless you're not a fan of chocolate, it's impossible to have only one of these...

I found a youtube demo, but the children use sweetened chocolate powder. I prefer it a bit less sweet...