Former journalist Juliana Motter swapped pens for pans when she launched the first brigadeiro-only shop in São Paulo and took the simple brigadeiro to new ‘gourmet’ heights. Using good-quality ingredients, she has created more than thirty flavour variations, such as peanut butter and the minty chocolate After Eight, as well as an exotic range for more adventurous palates including wasabi and chilli flavours. It’s all very modern, but the traditional brigadeiro, nevertheless, remains the most popular. At the Pinheiros shop you can see Juliana’s team in action, rolling up to 3,000 brigadeiros a day.

• See where to try the best brigadeiros