This is the Best Brazilian Carrot Cake with Chocolate Topping you will make! Brazilian carrot cake is very different from the American version, the carrots are blended for a delicious, beautiful orange cake that is moist and covered with real Brigadeiro (typical Brazilian chocolate glaze made with condensed milk).
Brazilians LOVE carrot cake and trust me; I have tested many different versions, and this is the BEST and fool proof recipe for you! Unlike the American carrot cake, it is full of blended carrots giving this signature Brazilian cake a bright beautiful yellow/orange color. It also has chocolate topping (dark chocolate or Brigadeiro), instead of cream cheese frosting.
If you are ready to try something different and amazing, grab your carrots from the fridge and make sure to read my tips to get perfect results on your first try!
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Table of Contents
Reasons to Love Brazilian Carrot Cake (Bolo de Cenoura)
- Easy and simple: This recipe uses simple ingredients you probably already have at home, and it is a great recipe to make all year long, not just Easter.
- Customizable: I will share 2 of my favorite chocolate frostings so that you can pick your favorite: 1—Brigadeiro ganache, which uses condensed milk, and 2—Dark chocolate glaze, which is made with milk, cacao, butter, and sugar.
- Kid-friendly: This isn’t a sugar-free cake, but it isn’t overly sweet. PLUS, there are carrots in it! The carrots are blended, and most kids prefer to eat a carrot cake this way; at least, my kids do! The chocolate frosting makes it extra special.
- Nut-free: The American version of carrot cake has walnuts or pecans in the recipe, while this Brazilian version is nut-free!
Ingredients
CAKE INGREDIENTS:
- Carrots: The main ingredient in this cake. Fresh carrots are peeled, diced, and blended for added moisture, sweetness, and beautiful color. Use fresh and crisp carrots for the best results!
- Eggs: Used as a binder. Use room-temperature eggs if you can!
- Granulated Sugar: The traditional Brazilian recipe uses granulated sugar, but you can also use brown sugar in this recipe. See the substitutions section for adjusted quantities.
- Vegetable oil: Use any neutral oil; avocado and sunflower oil work great! In this recipe, oil is added for moistness and texture.
- All-purpose flour: To give structure and fluffiness to the cake.
- Baking powder: To make the cake rise.
CHOCOLATE TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
This traditional Brazilian carrot cake has a mild flavor and is not overly sweet—it is more like a coffee cake! Therefore, I highly recommend adding the chocolate sauce on top for extra deliciousness. You will LOVE it!
You can choose from two traditional chocolate sauces for a traditional Brazilian carrot cake—they are both delicious! One is a Brigadeiro ganache, which is creamier and made with condensed milk, and the other is more liquid and made with sugar, cacao, butter, and milk. Below, I list the ingredients you need to make both frostings so you can try them for yourself and pick your favorite!
Option 1 – Soft Chocolate Brigadeiro Ganache:
- Condensed milk
- Cocoa powder 100%
- Butter
- Heavy cream (optional if you prefer the glaze to be pourable)
Option 2 – Dark Chocolate Silky Frosting:
- Butter
- Milk
- Cocoa powder 100%
- Sugar: granulated or brown sugar.
Step by Step Instructions
Follow these simple steps to make the best traditional Brazilian cake recipe:
Preparing the Carrot Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 356F (180C) and prepare a 9.5-inch bundt cake pan (grease and dust it with flour, removing excess flour or using a thin layer of cooking spray).
- Add the sugar, oil, carrots (peeled /diced), and eggs to a blender and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides as needed (no carrot pieces should remain).
- In a large bowl, add the sifted flour, then the blended wet ingredients, and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Add the baking powder and gently whisk (do not overmix!).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, until a cake tester/toothpick comes out lightly crumbly to clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool for 15 minutes, and unmold.
- While the cake cools, choose chocolate frosting from the options below!
OPTION 1: Preparing the Soft Chocolate Brigadeiro Ganache:
- Add the butter, condensed milk, and cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Heat the mixture, whisking constantly until creamy and released from the pan’s bottom.
- Turn off the heat and adjust consistency:
- If you like a thicker creamier sauce that is spreadable, stop here.
- If you wish to have a thinner sauce that is pourable, add the heavy cream and whisk until combined.
OPTION 2: Preparing the Dark Chocolate Silky Frosting:
- Add the butter, milk, cocoa powder, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Whisk until completely melted and smooth.
- Reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes until it has thickened.
- Remove from the heat, let it cool for 2-3 minutes, and pour it over the carrot cake.
Assembling the Carrot Cake:
- Transfer the cake to a serving round tray, spread the brigadeiro frosting, add chocolate sprinkles if desired, or pour the dark chocolate frosting while warm.
- If you use a round baking tray, you can decorate it for Easter with mini chocolate eggs and a chocolate Easter bunny. It is important to wait until the cake and frosting are at room temperature before adding the chocolate Easter bunny, or it will melt!
Tips for the Perfect Brazilian Carrot Cake
- For the best taste, the carrots should be fresh and peeled. If you leave the peel on, you get a subtle bitter taste, which I don’t like.
- Weigh your carrots! This is very important; you need 270g (about 9.5 oz) of carrots, and it is very imprecise to use cups or a number of carrots, as the size varies, as does the way you cut them before measuring. This is the kitchen weight scale I use!
- Blend the carrots very well! No pieces should be left, you want a smooth batter for a moist and light cake.
- Sift the all-purpose flour. It helps the cake stay aerated and fluffy; don’t skip this step.
- Make sure that the cake is fully cooked before opening the oven. Follow my instructions on timing; and a good tip that the cake is ready is when you start smelling it! If you open the oven too early, the internal oven temperature will fall, and the cake may sink.
- I find that using a bundt cake pan gives the best results!
- Always add the cake to a preheated oven. This is a very dense batter that will require an ideal temperature to rise and reach optimal texture and browning.
- Thoroughly grease and flour the pan to prevent the cake from sticking! This is one of the most important steps, especially when using a bundt cake pan!
- Before attempting to unmold the carrot cake, wait 15 minutes until it cools down a bit, or it can break.
Tools Needed
Here is a list of what you need to make this easy carrot cake recipe:
- Blender
- Mixing bowl
- Weight scale
- Whisk
- Cake tester or toothpick
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Rubber spatula
- Bundt pan or rectangular sheet pan
- Flour sifter
Storage Instructions
- This cake can be stored at room temperature for about 5 days, and in the fridge for up to 7 days. Always keep it covered to prevent drying. I love this wooden cake stand with a dome!
- Freezer: You can freeze the entire cake (without the chocolate frosting) or slice it and freeze for up to 3 months. Always wrap It in plastic wrap and aluminum foil as a second layer. To defrost, let the cake reach room temperature, add the chocolate frosting, and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions and Substitutions
- Oat Flour: To add a healthier twist, you can replace 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 ¼ cups of oat flour. Thus, you will use 1 cup of all-purpose flour plus 1 ¼ cups of oat flour in total. I don’t recommend using 100% oat flour, as the cake will lack structure and be soggy.
- Gluten-free flour: You may use all purpose gluten-free flour in this cake.
- Sugar: You can replace the granulated sugar with brown sugar (use the same equivalent cups). This recipe has the perfect sweetness using 1 ½ cups of sugar, but feel free to adjust anywhere between 1 cup and 2 cups of sugar it will work!
- Oil: You need a neutral-tasting oil, such as sunflower, canola, or avocado. Coconut oil will leave an aftertaste on this cake, and I don’t recommend it.
- Cake pans: If you don’t have a bundt cake pan, you can make this cake in a sheet pan. The baking time will be shorter if the cake is thinner, so you may need to bake it in about ½ the time.
Frequently Asked Questions
You probably added more carrots than the recipe calls for, so you need to use a weight scale to measure them! This step is important as it is difficult to get a precise measurement of carrots in cups or units. Adding the flour to the wet ingredients and blending them together will result in a denser cake!
Ideally, you want to mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and pour the wet mixture over them to incorporate them gently while preserving the air inside the batter. This will result in a fluffier cake.
Yes, you can use this recipe to make muffins. Remember to adjust the baking time to about 20 minutes for regular-sized muffins and 15 minutes for mini muffins.
You can use only neutral oils without affecting the taste of this cake, such as canola, sunflower or avocado oil. Olive oil or coconut would also not work and leave a strong aftertaste.
There are mainly 2 causes: you opened the oven door too early, or your baking powder is expired. You can do a quick test by stirring 1 tsp baking powder into water and seeing if it will fizz.
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🥣Recipe
Best Brazilian Carrot Cake with Chocolate Topping
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 Weight scale a must!
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Flour sifter optional but recommended
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 270 g carrots 9.5 oz raw, peeled, cut into chunks
- 3 eggs large
- 200 ml vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar or brown sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
OPTION 1: Soft Chocolate Brigadeiro Ganache
- 397 g condensed milk 1 can
- 4 tbsp cacao powder 100%
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
OPTION 2: Dark Chocolate Silky Frosting
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp milk whole milk is best
- 1 tbsp cacao powder 100%
- 1/3 cup sugar brown or granulated
Instructions
Preparing the Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 356F (180C) and prepare a 9.5-in bundt cake pan (grease and dust flour through it, making sure to remove excess flour or use a thin layer of cooking spray).
- Add the sugar, oil, carrots (peeled /diced) and eggs to a blender and blend until very smooth. Scrape down the sides as needed(no pieces of carrot should remain).
- In a large bowl, add the sifted flour and pour the blended wet ingredients and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Add the baking powder and gently whisk (do not overmix!).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes, until a cake tester/toothpick comes out lightly crumbly to clean.
- Remove the cake from oven, let it cool 15 minutes and unmold.
- While the cake cools, choose the chocolate frosting from the options below!
Preparing the Soft Chocolate Brigadeiro Ganache
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, condensed milk and cocoa powder.
- Heat the mixture whisking constantly until thick, creamy and releasing from the bottom of the pan.
- Turn off the heat, add the heavy cream and whisk until combined.
Preparing the Dark Chocolate Silky Frosting
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the butter,milk, cocoa powder and sugar.
- Whisk until completely melted and smooth.
- Reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes until it has thickened.
- Remove from the heat, let it cool for 2-3 minutes and pour it on the top of the carrot cake.
Assembling the Carrot Cake
- Transfer the cake to a serving round tray, spread the brigadeiro frosting and add chocolate sprinkles if desired; or pour the dark chocolate frosting while warm.
Notes
- For the best taste, the carrots should be fresh and peeled. If you leave the peel on, you get a subtle bitter taste, which I don’t like.
- Weigh your carrots! This is very important; you need 270g (about 9.5 oz) of carrots, and it is very imprecise to use cups or a number of carrots, as the size varies, as well as the way you cut it before measuring.
- Blend the carrots very well! No pieces should be left, you want a smooth batter for a moist and light cake.
- Sift the all-purpose flour. It helps the cake stay aerated and fluffy; don’t skip this step.
- Make sure that the cake is fully cooked before opening the oven. Follow my instructions on timing. A good tip for knowing when the cake is ready is when you start smelling it! If you open the oven too early, the oven’s internal temperature will fall, and the cake may sink.
- I find that using a bundt cake pan gives the best results!
- Always add the cake to a preheated oven. This is a very dense batter that will require an ideal temperature to rise and reach optimal texture and browning.
- Thoroughly grease and flour the pan to prevent the cake from sticking! This is one of the most important steps, especially when using a bundt cake pan!
- Before attempting to unmold the carrot cake, wait 15 minutes until it cools down, or it can break.
Nutrition
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- Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)
- Brazilian Cheese Bread Waffles
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I love the texture of this cake and the brigadeiro topping is just divine!
That’s what I like to hear! Thanks for your rating!
Very easy and tastes amazing! Thanks for sharing
That’s what I like to hear! Made my day 🙂
The best recipe! If you use a scale to measure the carrots it is foolproof, love it!
Yes! SO happy to hear that you love this recipe! It is a favorite!