Understand the success of the strawberry of love, the caramelized sweet that became fever on social networks

Hybrid between strawberry candy and love apple, the strawberry of love has given it to talk about social networks. Videos teaching the recipe, proving the candy and even memes on the subject add millions of Instagram and Tiktok views.

The apparently simple treat is a strawberry wrapped by white brigadeiro – generally made with powdered milk – and a thin layer of red caramelized sugar. The exact origin of the candy is difficult to track, but the combination is not new, similar or even identical recipes have been circulating for years that has recently become a fever.

On social networks, several confectioners claim to be the precursors of the preparation – and others of Trend that has taken over social networks. Eliezer Lima (@elitourr), who says he is responsible for the viralization of the Strawberry of Love, published a video proving the dessert of his confectionery on April 30. The post has reached more than 1.2 million views on Tiktok.

At the time, the dock was not yet national success, but today is already among the most spoken subjects of the Brazilian internet. The Strawberry of Love has gained total strength from the second half of July and is still growing on Google Trends. Terms like “where to buy”, “recipe” and “what is” are highlighted for searching on the subject, which seems to have viralized in a big herd effect – as such as pistachio and other viral food.

The success is so much that, besides flooding the feed of many people, the strawberry of love also dominated the production of confectioners across the country and became collective desire. “People don’t want to buy the other sweets, they want to buy strawberry from love,” says Mariana Araújo, owner of the Mary Cakes candy shop in Curitiba.

She began to produce the sweets less than two weeks ago after requests from customers, and states that currently the strawberry of love is responsible for 90% of her business revenues. “We couldn’t even put this product on delivery sites yet. I put one day, lasted five minutes and sold out,” he says.

According to the sweetheart, the demand is so high that the confectionery will have to hire extra help and triple the current production – 200 strawberries per day – to serve customers. “People are in a two -day waiting line and yet they want to keep their request.”

For those who do not want to expect the availability of candy in confectioners, producing the own strawberry of love at home has become an alternative. But along with the recipes that pump on the networks, the culinary disasters also multiply.

Named “Strawberry of Terror” or “Strawberry of Hate”, this version, instead of the expected crispness of the caramelized bark, comes the “pull” texture that sticks to the teeth.

In some posts there are even those who broke or lost their tooth trying to snap the caramel too thick or at the wrong point. There is also no shortage of errors in the color of the dye – the color red, such as the apple of love -, at the point of the brigadeiro and the finish, with candy stuck to each other or in the packaging, which compromises the result and makes them gain one of the joke nicknames.

The fame of the strawberry of love also made room for numerous variations. The “strawberry of the Northeast” came up (wrapped with dulce de leche), the “passion fruit” or “strawberry” (with passion fruit brigadeiro). In addition, there are versions with pistachio, pineapple and virtually any imaginable brigadeiro flavor.

Fruits such as grapes, banana, gossip and even the deconstructed shape of the lunch boxes or platter entered the wave. Just caramelize something with the red crispy cone and ready: it became “of love”.

The success was such that the strawberry of love also arrived at the high standard confectionery. Chef Diego Lozano, a jury of Masterchef Confectionery, launched the dessert ” this is not a banana of love ” in his confectionery, Levena, in Sao Paulo.

Creation is a rereading of the most famous dessert – “this is not a banana” – with a view to the latest culinary fashion in the country. The original coconut mousse comes out and comes a strawberry flavor, finished with a bright red glazing that mimics the viral cone.

Not even the famous ones were left out. Clara Moneke, Breno Ferreira, Samara Pink and Carlinhos Maia were some of the names that recorded videos proving the coveted treat. There were also those who complained about the modinha on social networks, such as the influencer Kéfera, who said he could not stand the subject anymore.

With adorares and detractors, the question is whether the strawberry of love will have more durability than other gastronomic trends, such as the Frozen Yogurt or the Mexican palette.