Grape candy (Uvinha)

November 16, 2012  •  Category: ,

 

 


Brazil is the country with the largest number of Lebanese expats and immigrants, especially the county of Sao Paulo; one of my grandmother’s brothers, Georges,  left the family  to make a life  there  as a young man and my grandmother never saw her brother again. Today, his descendants were traced back and cousins are planning a reunion to meet Georges’ grandsons for the first time. 

I met a few Brazilians while in Dallas, and they were all totally familiar with Lebanese food; in fact, one of them, Ana, would make her version of tabbouleh every single day to eat for lunch at work. 

In Lebanon on the other hand,  Brazil is part of the food landscape as most of the meat (beef, veal) is imported from Brazil. 

These Brazilian candies are easy to make and fun to eat; one is enough per person as they are rich and sweet. All you need are some fresh grapes, a can of sweetened condensed milk and a touch of butter to make them. Food coloring is optional, (I used green).

INGREDIENTS: 20 candies

  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tbsp of unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp of vanilla
  • 3 drops of food color (optional)
  • 20 small grapes (washed and dried)
  • 1/3 cup of granulated sugar or sprinkles to roll the candies in
METHOD:
  1. Grease a deep plate with butter and set aside. Pour the condensed milk in a heavy-bottomed medium size saucepan; add the butter and set the heat to medium-low. Using a wooden spoon or a wire whisk, stir the mixture continuously for 10 minutes; it will thicken to where you will be able to see the bottom of the saucepan. At this point, add the food color and vanilla and stir again to combine well. The mixture should be thick and smooth. Pour the mixture into the greased plate and let it cool for 30 minutes. 
  2. Start shaping the candies: Grease your palms with butter; take one grape and a lump of cream the size of a small walnut; enclose the grape in the cream and roll between your palms to shape into a ball. Set it aside. When all the candies are shaped, dip into a bowl of granulated sugar or sprinkles. Set in a serving dish or in individual paper candy cups. Keep refrigerated until serving time.

 

Comments

19 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. kouky says:

    délicieuse découverte!!! merci Joumana pour ce voyage gourmand!! bonne soirée!

  2. Rosa says:

    Oh, lovely and surely quite addictive!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  3. Familycook says:

    Interesting candy this is:)

  4. leaf says:

    Ah, they look cute! Always keen to learn about interesting food from countries like Brazil.

  5. Belinda @zomppa says:

    These are naturally sweet and so adorable!!

  6. Alicia (foodycat) says:

    How interesting! I had no idea about the Lebanese/Brazilian connection! These candies look really good – I am a sucker for condensed milk fudge and the addition of grapes seems very clever, something a bit fresher to cut through it. I wonder if you could use blueberries instead?

    • Joumana says:

      @Alicia: You can use any other fruit, as long as it is not oozing out liquid; blueberries is a BRILLIANT idea!

      @Tom: I am drooling at the thought! Just leave the cherries with the pit, I think.

  7. Tom Tall Clover Farm says:

    Joumana, I love the idea of these grape gems and since we grow amazing cherries in the Pacific Northwest, I will certainly try the recipe with that stone fruit. In fact I’m thinking I could roll them in chopped pistachio nuts and have bite-size hand-held spumoni!

  8. Banana Wonder says:

    How interesting – I never knew there was such a connection between the two countries. The grap candy looks delicious also!

  9. Chiara says:

    what a lovely treat ! have a nice weekend…

  10. lisaiscooking says:

    I never of the connection between Lebanon and Brazil. So interesting! I love learning about how food travels from one place to another. These candies look like fun treats for a party!

  11. Wizzy says:

    These look wicked good. It is highly unlikely that I will be able to stop at just one!

  12. Adriano Petrich says:

    Lovely post. Lately I found a trick from a friends’ mother that is to add an egg yolk to the condensed milk. You have to be more careful during heating as it can be seconds between great and overdone, but the end texture it gets is something uncanny

  13. Jamie says:

    These are really pretty and I can see how good they would be with a cup of tea. I love the grape surprise in the center!

  14. Ambreen says:

    That looks awesome, delicious & tempting treat!

  15. tammy511'sblogentrie says:

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  16. priya says:

    What a great easy candy.It must be rich as you mentioned.There are lot of recipes for me to try.

    MyKitchenOdyssey

  17. carla mv callil joao says:

    Os doces de festa com base de leite condensado, conhecido como brigadeiro são muito apreciados pelos brasileiros, os meus prediletos são os de cardamomo com chocolate , os de chocolate puro e o brigadeiro recheado com morango fresco.

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