In Europe, you’d call these little chocolate balls truffles. In Brazil, they are brigadeiros. Pastry chef Marcia Joy, who owns the East Side cafe Sweet Joy, calls this Brazilian treat her country’s “mascot.” “It’s a kind of comfort,” says Joy, who comes from the metropolis of São Paulo. “My mom was always making brigadeiros, and I was always close to her with my mini spoon ready to lick the bowl.” The version Joy makes goes beyond the simple, traditional recipes by incorporating her homemade chocolate. To further differentiate her cafe from the scores of other area coffee shops, she also offers more specialties from her home country – tiny bun-shaped cheese breads called pao de queijo and chicken croquettes, or coxinha.
