“Glass Bonbons?” Wait, please don’t scream at me! This is not a DIY craft post. 🙂 If you have never heard of Glass Bonbons, known in Portuguese as Bala de Vidro, Bala Baiana or Bala de Ovo, now is your chance. But if you have, I am sure that you already know how darn delicious they are.
Glass bonbons consist of coconut brigadeiros/Brazilian coconut kisses (beijinhos) covered in a hardened caramel shell. This results in a soft, fudgy interior and the thin, crunchy glass-like exterior that gives rise to its name.
In certain areas of Brazil, these sweets are known by two other names: bala de ovo (or egg bonbons because of their sunny egg-yolk appearance) and bala baiana (I imagine this is because they are somehow related to the state of Bahia). However, their exact origin is unknown.
No matter which name these bonbons are called, the simple fact is, they are popular all over my home country at weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, etc — and are even sold on the streets as candies wrapped in cellophane.
But you know what? The most important thing here is to follow my advice: make our glass bonbons when the rest of the family isn’t around (especially the kids) and then hide some to eat for yourself! If you don’t, just like me, you will deeply regret it! 🙂
xx
To learn more about brigadeiro-based treats, see here.
Glass Bonbons (Bala de Vidro)
Ingredients
- 1 sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups fullsweetened coconut flakes
- 3 cups granulated sugar 570 g
- 1¼ cups water 300 ml
- 1 tablespoons white vinegar or apple cider vinegar 15 ml
Instructions
- In a medium non-stick saucepan, mix the condensed milk and butter together, and cook over medium-low heat (large burner) or medium heat (small burner), stirring constantly, until the mixture has reduced, thickened, and begins to show the bottom of the pan when scraped with a wood spoon (about 5 minutes). The mixture should be thick enough to reveal the bottom of the pan for a couple of seconds before the mixture levels out again.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in both the vanilla and the coconut flakes until obtaining an homogeneous mixture. Place mixture onto a greased plate and let cool to room temperature before starting to roll them into balls with either ungreased or only very lightly greased hands (mixture is so thick that it barely stick to hands). Use a 1/2 Tablespoon as measurement.
- Meanwhile, in a separate medium nonstick pan, stir in the sugar, water, and vinegar together until combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat, without stirring at all (this is to prevent caramel from forming crystals), until sugar has dissolved completely and takes on a light caramel/golden honey color (It is important not to let the caramel become dark, or else the glass bonbons can turn out bitter). Beginning 5-7 minutes from when mixture first starts to boil, watch pan constantly in order to avoid caramel quickly turning dark or even burning.
- Reduce heat to low, tilt pan with one hand and then coat each of the coconut balls in caramel. You can either stick a long wood skewer or toothpick into each ball, rotating in order to drip off excess caramel, or you can use a fork to help you coat the balls. Please, be careful to not burn yourself with the hot caramel.
- Place caramelized balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, remove stick or slide ball over parchment paper, and let caramel set completely. Using a sharp knife, trim excess caramel from the bottom. Note: be sure not to press on the hard top of the bonbons while trimming off excess caramel from the bottom, otherwise caramel will crack apart. Instead, secure the bonbon from the side, careful not to apply much finger pressure.
- Place glass bonbons into bonbon cups or wrap in cellophane paper, twisting the ends if you prefer to serve them as wrapped candies.
Recipe Notes
Abbe @ This is How I Cook says
Bon bons are such a wonderful name for these. Love the idea of a crunchy glass shell. What a special treat!
Deb|EastofEdenCooking says
The sunshine yellow photos have my undivided attention! The Glass Bonbons just scream spring!
marcela says
OMG! Delicious, as always! I’m sooooo gonna give this recipe a try!
Flor de Maria says
These look wonderful, I will, for sure, give them a try. Thanks!
Let me ask you…should the caramel be a soft roll temperature? I think the major difficulty would be with the caramel so using a thermometer would be ideal–until you get enough experience to be able to “eyeball” it and know.
Denise Browning says
Hi, Flor de Maria! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you try these and enjoy them as much as my family and I did.
I didn’t test this recipe with a thermometer. Sorry!
I made them for the first time and was relatively easy. When caramel mixture is bubbly and ,above all, gets a light caramel/golden honey color (main clue), it is ready to bath the coconut balls in. Caramel temp is about: 160-177ºC or 320-350ºF. Please, take a look at this article which explains the caramel test better: http://www.wikihow.com/Test-Candy-Hardness-Stages
I hope this helps. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Easter!!!
Rekha says
Oh Denise these look so so delicious! ah making me drool 🙂
Juliana says
This are so pretty Denise…I remember having these bonbons back in Brazil, but never thought in making them myself…thanks for the recipe…
Have a wonderful week 🙂
Denise Browning says
My pleasure, Juliana! They are much easier to make them it looks… 🙂
Have a Happy Easter!
John@Kitchen Riffs says
These are new to me! Love the way they look — and they do kind of remind me of an egg yolk! Super dish — thanks.
Shashi at RunninSrilankan says
Denise these are absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I am blown away!
Daniela says
The glass bonbons look lovely, Denise and the pic where the sugar is caramelizing is sensational.
A great treat for this season.
Happy Easter !
Flor de Maria says
Denise, I made these today and they were a big hit at home. I doubled the recipe and it went without a hitch. The only thing was that when rolling them I wet my hands as opposed to using fat in my hands. At first I tried canola oil –a tiny bit in my palms but it got a bit messy so when I rinsed my hands it occurred to me to use my damp hands, what can I tell you? It went so fast and smoothly I could not believe it. Anyway, thanks for the recipe –I am sure I will make them over and over again.
Denise Browning says
Flor de Maria:
I am so glad to know that you made them and ,even more, they were a big hit.
For my coconut balls, I did not use anything in my hands to roll them — neither greased or wet hands and I could roll them without any problem since the recipe is saturated with coconut flakes. But I am glad to know that wetting your hands helped you to roll them easily. If this worked for you, go ahead!!! Enjoy these and other types of brigadeiros… Wishing you and your family a very Happy Easter! And thanks a lot for stopping by to let me know that everything turned all right. I do appreciated it.
Sugar et al. says
I am a big fan of Brazilian food ever since I started reading your blog. And you come up with amazing stuff every time. I have never come across these before but these are gorgeous! I want all of them. The caramel coating technique is mindblowing!
Little Cooking Tips says
Wow, fantastic recipe Denise! The inside is pretty much the same technique you showed us in the brigadeiros recipe, so we think we have mastered it:)
The tricky part is the caramel coating! Won’t the caramel stick on the parchment?:/ Is this a stupid thought?:)
We haven’t experimented with caramel that much as you can see:)
Here in Greece we lot caramelized choux, filled with cream. It’s one of those treats we grew up with (practically there was no birthday, anniversary or any other occasion without it in the 80s).
So, since we adore those, we know that the coconut twist will simply be heaven in each bite!:)
Thanx so much dear,
have a beautiful Easter!
Panos and Mirella
xoxoxoxoxo
Denise Browning says
Hi, Panos and Mirella!
Actually, the parchment paper will help to avoid hardened caramel to stick to the baking sheet.
I would love to see your caramelized choux filled with cream in your blog and read about your childhood memories eating it while growing up.
Thank you so much for stopping by despite of your busy schedule. Wishing you both a very Happy Easter! xoxo
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com says
I love anything made with sweetened condensed milk – love these cute little treats! Happy Easter!
Mi Vida en un Dulce says
We have something similar, not made with coconut, but the shape is the same, covered with the caramel…we call it “yemitas” (little egg yoks).
Denise Browning says
How interesting, Nydia!!! I would love to see yemitas in your blog and try the recipe. Happy Easter!
Gourmet Getaways says
The balls look so shiny and perfect in and out! Drools **
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Anna @ shenANNAgans says
These are gorgeous, although I’ve never heard of them before. Will have to bookmark to try at a later date. 🙂 Much later date, still shaking from my overdose on sugar and sweet foods this weekend. Lol! Your cake really was a huge success with the family. Thank you!
Denise Browning says
Thank you, Anna! I was so happy that you made those bars.
I hope you and your family had a great weekend. xx
Raymund says
Wow this looks amazing! Looks like our yema in the Philippines
http://www.angsarap.net/2012/01/10/yema/