Everyone in Brazil grows up knowing the basic recipe for brigadeiros, traditional chocolate desserts made with condensed milk, according to baker and business owner Nayara Lark. But not everyone can make them like Lark.
Lark began baking seriously in 2017, taking classes in Brazil to help herself handle the grief of her mother’s death. After moving to the United States in 2019 to do her postdoc in physiology at the University of Minnesota, Lark began baking for friends’ parties and weddings. It was a gift at first; then, her friends started ordering more of her sweets. Eventually, Lark’s American husband encouraged her to apply to a farmers market.
The Sweet Brazilian, Lark’s dessert business, made its debut at the Como Park Farmers’ Market last month. Lark’s table, decked out in pink and stacked with brigadeiros, carrot cake donuts, and cookies, is becoming a site of nostalgia for local Brazilians and of discovery for other customers.
“This is instant Brazil,” customer Ruth DeYoe said. DeYoe’s mother was Brazilian, and DeYoe grew up eating Brazilian desserts and visiting her mother’s country regularly. She said she has tasted almost everything that Lark offers, which she refers to as her “level-up Brazilian sweets.”…