Brazilian Carrot Cake

This is carrot cake like you've never had it before. I happen to have several family members who hail from Brazil (not to mention all the ones I work with) and this is a favorite of them all. As you might guess from the picture, it's nothing like American carrot cake. The ingredients are blended rather than chopped, so there's no visual sign of carrots. The cake itself is not as sweet as most Americans are used to, but the chocolate glaze could knock out even the sweetest sweet tooth. And most importantly, it's amazingly simple: just dump all the ingredients together and mix (if your blender is strong enough, you can even blend everything). And because it's a carrot cake (vegetables, you know), you can eat more of it. Naturally.


Brazilian Carrot Cake (Bolo de Cenoura)
Recipe adapted from www.sonia-portuguese.com/recipes
Picture by Caroline

3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 large eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine chopped carrots, eggs and oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Pour carrot mixture into a large mixing bowl and add sugar. Add flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.
3. Pour batter into 2 8-inch round pans that have been greased and dusted with flour (A 9 x 13 inch pan will also work though you will have to adjust the baking time). Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool until you can remove the cake from the pan and top with chocolate topping immediately.

Chocolate Topping*

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons chocolate milk powder (like Nesquick)
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch + 1 teaspoon water

1. Combine butter, milk, chocolate powder and sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil.
2. In a small cup add cornstarch and water. Stir until smooth; then add to chocolate mixture. Stir until mixture has thickened to a thin glaze. Remove from heat and pour over cake.
   

*A word on the glaze: The recipe above is the "real Brazilian" way, at least according to my Brazilian brother in-law and his mom. If you're ok being a little less authentic, you can take some store chocolate frosting, thin it out with a little milk, and use that instead.