Balas Baianas – ‘sugar glass’ coated coconut candy

Did I ever mention how much I love Rio’s street markets? Hmm, only about 20 times in the last year I suppose… Still, I’m sure that anyone who’s had the pleasure will agree that they’re utterly awesome. I visit these feiras da rua at least 3 or 4 times a week and although most of the markets are fairly similar, there are always a few variations depending on which location/day of the week you happen to be visiting.

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One of my favourite markets is held in Glória on Thursdays and that’s all down to the availability of a rather delicious bala (candy / sweet / lolly) (USA / UK / Aus). Regular readers will know that I am not a sweet-toothed person – when it comes to Brazilian ‘classics’ like brigadeiro and quindim, I tend to agree with Jamie Oliver – and yet this item of confectionery has me hooked. It’s a sweet, creamy coconut centre surrounded by a thin, glass-like coating of caramel-candy. Adriana, the woman who sells these balas, calls them Balas de Coco, but that name is also used for another candy which is quite different, so I’ll be sticking with the alternative term, Balas Baianas.

Xem thêm : U.S. Food and Drug Administration

In the interests of being self-sufficient, I decided to have a go at making these sweets myself and it turns out they’re not that tricky.

Bala Baiana Recipe

Ingredients (makes around 40)

• 1 tin (320ml) of condensed milk
• 100g grated coconut
• 1 dessert spoon butter/margarine
• 1 egg yolk
• 150g sugar
• 3 tablespoons clear (spirit) vinegar

• Optional: sea salt flakes

Steps

• Place the condensed milk, coconut, butter/margarine and egg yolk in a saucepan and mix well.

• After mixing, heat on medium-low and stir until the mixture thickens and starts coming away from the pan.

• Spread the mixture out on a plate to cool.
• Once the mixture is cool enough to handle, use a little butter/margarine to grease your hands, then take a teaspoonful of the mixture and roll it into a marble-sized ball. Repeat until you have used up all the coconut mixture. Leave the balls in the fridge or freezer to firm up for an hour.

• In a new saucepan, add the sugar and vinegar and stir to mix. Get your mixing done now, because once you start heating you shouldn’t be mixing or messing with the sugar mixture until it has completely dissolved.
• Heat the sugar and vinegar until it reaches the ‘hard crack‘ stage. If you have a thermometer this is around 150-154°C – otherwise you have to test it by dropping some of the sugar into a glass of cold water – the sugar should form hard, brittle threads. This is the only tricky part of the recipe – you have to get this bit right, otherwise the sugar won’t achieve that brittle glass-like quality you’re looking for.

• Now you want to coat the coconut centres with the sugar mixture. Be careful because that sugar is seriously hot and will give you a nasty burn if you touch it. Take each coconut ball and dip it into the hot sugar mixture (either use a teaspoon or a cocktail stick). Once fully coated, allow some of the excess sugar to drip off, then place the ball on a greased surface or a piece of baking parchment.

• Before the balas cool, you might want to try sprinkling on a couple of flakes of sea salt – this isn’t part of the authentic recipe, but I tried it and it’s delicious!

• When the sugar cools, it should form a very thin, glass-like brittle coating. The balas can then be wrapped in cellophane or put into little cellophane-coated mini candy cups.

Seeing as it was Adriana who introduced me to these delicious sweets, I think it’s only right that I give her a plug. She makes a wide range of different candies and would be perfect if you’re having a party and don’t feel like doing all the hard work yourself. Adriana can be reached on 2 Rio phone numbers: 2293-8157 and 98813-5369.

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