Brazilian Carrot Cake is a sweet and fluffy sheet cake with a deliciously rich chocolate icing. This easy to make cake is much different than its American counterpart, and completely amazing in its own way.
In Brazil, this amazing cake is called bolo de cenoura, and it is a classic, traditional South American recipe that lets the sweetness of the carrots shine. The cake itself is made with just 8 ingredients, and the chocolate icing takes it over the top.
Brazilian Carrot Cake Vs. American Carrot Cake
You can probably already see that this Brazilian carrot cake is very different than the standard spiced carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It really is a completely different dessert, and the only true similarity is that both cakes include carrots!
This version of carrot cake is baked as a sheet cake. It’s light and fluffy and topped with a smooth and rich Brigadeiro-inspired chocolate frosting.
The Brazilian carrot cake batter is made of simple ingredients and prepared primarily with a food processor or blender, so there’s no need to pull out your box grater.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make the fluffiest Brazilian Carrot Cake:
- Carrots: Peel the carrots and cut them into pieces that your blender can handle. They’re added to the cake batter raw.
- Eggs: Eggs bind all of the other ingredients together and help to create the perfect crumb texture.
- Oil: Use vegetable oil or any light flavored oil for this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla enhances all of the other flavors in the recipe.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: This is for the frosting! Using sweetened condensed milk gives us a rich and fudgy icing, but I’ll give you some other options below.
- Chocolate: Melted semi-sweet chocolate gives us the perfect amount of sweetness in the frosting.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Brazilian Carrot Cake
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper so that the cake is easy to remove after it’s baked.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a blender or food processor, combine the chopped carrots, eggs, and vegetable oil. Blend until very smooth.
- Sift the Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, and baking powder. You can use a traditional flour sifter for this step, or a fine mesh sieve.
Tip!
Sifting the dry ingredients together helps to evenly distribute them into the cake batter, and helps to keep the cake light and fluffy.
- Combine: Pour the carrot mixture from the blender into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well until the batter is smooth and uniform. Be careful not to overmix the batter, stop stirring when there are no dry patches of flour visible.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a platter to cool most of the way before frosting. Alternatively, you can allow the cake to cool in the pan and frost it that way.
- Make the Chocolate Brigadeiro Frosting: While the cake is baking, prepare the chocolate topping. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and milk or heavy cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Frost the Cake: Once the cake is done and slightly cooled, pour the warm chocolate topping over the cake, covering the surface evenly, and add sprinkles if desired. Allow the cake to cool completely and the topping to set before slicing and serving.
Recipe Tips
- Blending the carrots: Raw carrots might be difficult to blend with a regular standard blender. I suggest using a high-speed blender or a food processor for the smoothest cake batter.
- Frost the cake while it’s slightly warm: this helps to keep the carrot cake moist.
- Frosting Options: This frosting is delicious, but since it’s made with sweetened condensed milk, it will stay soft. For a harder icing, check out the one that I make for my Texas sheet cake. You might also enjoy making a chocolate ganache like I use on my Ding Dong Cake.
Storing Tips
Once baked and frosted this cake can be covered and stored in the fridge for for up to 5 days. It’s important to keep it in an airtight container so that it doesn’t dry out.
If you’d like to make Brazilian carrot cake further ahead of time, you can freeze the cake (without the frosting) for up to 2 months. When you’re ready for it, allow the cake to thaw overnight at room temperature, then frost before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this in a bundt pan?
I tested this recipe in a bundt pan, and because it’s so moist and fluffy, it is tricky to remove from a bundt without greasing and flouring the pan really, really well. So, yes, you can make Brazilian carrot cake in a bundt pan, just be sure to prep the pan the right way.
This recipe seems different than the one I know
There are many different variations of this classic Brazilian recipe. One more common way to make this cake involves blending all of the ingredients together rather than sifting the flour in gently. This results in a denser cake, and I much prefer this light and fluffy outcome!
What is a Brigadeiro?
The icing on this cake is inspired by traditional chocolate truffles made in Brazil. They’re soft and rich, made with cocoa and sweetened condensed milk and rolled in chocolate sprinkles.
Sheet pan Brazilian Carrot Cake is such an easy recipe, and will be a unique and delicious dessert for your next special day. Be sure to Pin this recipe so that you can find it the next time you have some extra carrots in the fridge, or you’re just in the mood for cake!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Brazilian Carrot Cake
Equipment
- Fine mesh strainer
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 medium (300 g) carrots peeled and chopped
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 ¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Chocolate Brigadeiro Frosting:
- 14 ounces (400 g) canned sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chopped, or chocolate chips
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream, if needed, to adjust consistency
Instructions
To make the Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9×13 inch (22×33 cm) pan with parchment paper.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the chopped carrots, eggs, and vegetable oil. Blend until very smooth.
- In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, and baking powder.
- Pour the carrot mixture from the blender into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well until the batter is smooth and uniform. Be careful not to overmix the batter, stop stirring when there are no dry patches of flour visible.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a plate, or allow to cool completely if you want to frost the cake in the pan.
To make the Chocolate Brigadeiro Frosting:
- While the cake is baking, prepare the chocolate topping. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and milk or heavy cream.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Once the cake is done and slightly cooled, pour the warm chocolate topping over the cake, covering the surface evenly, add sprinkles if desired. Allow the cake to cool completely and the topping to set before slicing and serving.
Notes:
- Blending the carrots: Raw carrots might be difficult to blend with a regular blender. I suggest using a high-speed blender or a food processor for the smoothest cake batter.
- Frost the cake while it’s slightly warm: this helps to keep the carrot cake moist.
- Storage: Keep the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Cici says
This cake is off the hook. it’s the best carrot cake I have made and tasted in a very long time. Cake was excellent because it had not too much sugar and carrots. would love to see more cake recipes like this one. Here in the US we eat too much sugar and salt in our diets. I thank you so very much for sharing the recipe.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Cici! Thank you so much for the great feedback on the recipe. So glad you enjoyed!