Bolo de Cenoura (Brazilian Carrot Cake)
Our Brazilian nanny has been loving my baked goodies and mentioned this cake as one of her favorite snacks. I’ve had it in Portugal, and it's so much easier to make than American carrot cake. She loved it, and when I came back, three quarters of the cake was gone because she brought some to the park to share with her friends. It's so yummy, beautifully bright, and simple. A perfect afternoon snack.
Ingredients
Cake
2 ½ cups carrots (300g)
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Brigadeiro frosting
1 can condensed milk (397g, 1 ¼ cups)
¾ cup chopped or chips dark chocolate
⅔ cup heavy cream
3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Also grease and line an 8×8 inch cake pan.
Here's the super easy part. Instead of grating carrots, you just add it all to a blender. Blend the carrots, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the blended carrot mixture to your flour mixture. Whisk just until you can no longer see any flour.
Pour this into your prepared cake tin and bake at 350 F for 1 hour, or until a toothpick or chopstick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once baked, leave to cool down before frosting
Making the brigadeiro: add all the ingredients to a pot or pan over medium heat. Keep stirring until the chocolate and butter melt, continue stirring and heating until the mixture thickens slightly. You want it to be thick, but still pourable, like a pudding.
Pour the brigadeiro over until the whole cake is covered. Use a spoon or knife to smooth out the top and sides.
Let the frosting set before cutting into it. Enjoy with milk!
You can store for a day at room temperature, covered, or in the fridge for 3-5 days.
