Brazilian Carrot Cake
I hate carrot cake. I always have. A cake made with vegetables and cream cheese frosting shouldn’t be called a cake. I don’t know what it should be called, but it shouldn’t be called a cake. When I think of cake, I think of something sweet that’s chocolate or vanilla with a butter cream frosting. Carrot cake has shredded carrots, walnuts and cream cheese. I mean, seriously, how is that cake?
Ok. I know there are a lot of you out there who love the classic “dessert.” Please don’t hold it against me that I don’t. I just don’t like the texture, flavor or that awful cream cheese frosting. When I want cake I want sweet! I want moist. I want chocolate! Or cheesecake! And it’s not like I hate carrots. I love carrots, especially the purple and yellow ones. They’re sweet, have a wonderful crunch and are really, really good for you. I like them raw, lightly sautéed and especially juiced. Because of their sweet flavor, that juice is great in smoothies as well as sauces and soups. That wonderful carrot flavor never seems to transfer to a carrot cake, though. At least not for me. But then I found a recipe for a Brazilian carrot cake and my whole world changed.
What makes this carrot cake Brazilian? As with all recipes whether they be good or bad, it’s all about how it’s made. Instead of using shredded carrots and getting a chunkier batter, Brazilians use a blender to get a carrot purée. See, most Brazilians have blenders instead of stand mixers and food processors since they’re cheap and easy to use. Blenders are so common in fact, that blender cakes are the most popular type of cake in Brazil. It’s that scrumptious purée that made me love carrot cake. By simply puréeing the carrots in a blender with sugar, eggs and oil you get a smooth batter that still has all that wonderful sweet, carrot flavor but actually tastes and looks like a cake. Any color carrot will work, but if you use yellow and purple carrots like I did, you can make a pretty checkerboard carrot cake that’s perfect for Easter.
Now that you have a carrot cake that actually tastes like cake, you can put whatever type of frosting you want on it. If you like cream cheese, go ahead and make a cream cheese frosting. I made a chocolate butter cream and it was amazing! And since I went with a butter cream, I was able to decorate the cake with an Easter theme… you know green grass, some orange carrots and a few jelly beans. It was festive and pretty and perfect for this pastel holiday. But best of all… it tasted sooooo good! I will absolutely make this cake again. Maybe even this weekend… After all, I can’t think of a better treat for the Easter bunny than a slice of carrot cake.
Ingredients
- 4-1/2 cups flour, divided
- 2 tablespoons baking powder, divided
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups vegetable oil, divided
- 3 cups sugar, divided
- 8 eggs, divided
- 5 yellow carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 purple carrots, peeled and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 of the cake pans from the Wilton Checkerboard Cake pan set and set aside.
- Sift 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1-1/4 cups flour and 3/4 teaspoon salt together in a bowl. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients in a second bowl and set aside.
- Blend 1 cup oil, 1-1/2 cups sugar, 4 eggs and yellow carrots together in a blender until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the puree into a large bowl and whisk in one of the flour mixtures until combined; set aside. Repeat with the remaining oil, sugar, eggs and purple carrots and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into another large bowl and whisk in the remaining flour mixture.
- Place the separator in one pan. Pour the yellow carrot batter into the outer ring and center most ring. Pour the purple carrot batter into the middle ring. Carefully remove the separator, rinse and place in the 2nd, empty pan.
- Pour the remaining purple batter into the outer ring and center ring. Pour the remaining yellow carrot batter into the middle ring. Carefully remove the separator. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and finish cooling.
- While the cakes bake, make your favorite frosting.
To Assemble the Cake
- Place one layer on a cake stand. Cover the top with frosting. Place the 2nd layer on top of the frosting and gently press down. Frost (and decorate) the cake as desired and serve.
