For Moist, Tender Carrot Cake, Make It the Brazilian Way

Carrots may be available at grocery stores year-round, but they're at their best in the spring, when they’re in season and particularly sweet. I especially like them raw in salads, grilled or roasted, and in desserts such as Persian halva and carrot cake—pairing the root vegetable with sugar helps highlight its earthy, vegetal notes and brings out its natural sweetness. These flavors are particularly prominent in bolo de cenoura, a light, tender Brazilian carrot cake.

Unlike most American carrot cakes, which feature grated carrots and mix-ins such as nuts, shredded coconut, pineapple chunks, and raisins, bolo de cenoura is completely smooth and made with puréed carrots. Another key difference is that there is no tangy cream cheese frosting in sight—instead, the cake is glazed in a rich chocolate frosting.

The recipe below comes from our Birmingham, Alabama-based test kitchen colleague Giovanna Vazquez, who frequently enjoys bolo de cenoura with her Brazilian family. Her goal was to come up with a recipe for a cake that would be just as good—if not even better—than the versions she ate growing up. After extensive testing, she came up with a recipe for a moist carrot cake that’s balanced, just sweet enough without being cloying, and equally wonderful as a snacking cake or as a dessert for a special occasion.

According to Giovanna, the dessert can vary from family to family: Some use a 9- by 13-inch baking pan, others reach for a Bundt pan, and others, like Giovanna, use a 9-inch round cake pan. Some cooks whizz up the batter in a blender—carrots, eggs, flour, and all—while others gently whisk the flour into the carrot purée.

Traditionally, bolo de cenoura is glazed with a brigadeiro, a combination of condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter. These ingredients are whisked together and cooked on a stovetop until they come together into a thick mixture that’s poured over the cake. (When cooled, that same mixture is firm enough to shape into balls and coat with sprinkles, another popular treat known as a “brigadeiro.”) 

Making bolo de cenoura well isn’t difficult, but the following tips will ensure your carrot cake is the very best it can be.

The Key Techniques for a Moist, Tender Brazilian Carrot Cake

Whisk the batter by hand until just combined. Blitzing everything together in a blender is a tempting shortcut, but increases the risk of overmixing the batter and developing too much gluten, resulting in a tough, chewy cake. To ensure the cake stays tender, Giovanna purées the carrots with sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs, then whisks the liquid mixture with the flour, baking powder, and salt together by hand until just combined, which keeps gluten development to a minimum.

Triple the dairy for the frosting. While Giovanna enjoys the traditional brigadeiro that’s poured over the cake, she prefers a glaze that’s slightly thinner. Her frosting is made with the condensed milk and butter—both traditional brigadeiro ingredients—but also includes whole milk, which gives the frosting a ganache-like texture that’s not too thick and not too thin. “It’s sweet and milky, and the chocolate is a little more present than in brigadeiro,” she says. A touch of salt balances the sweetness of the condensed milk, and enhances the flavor of the cocoa powder.

Let it sit. You will likely want to dig into the cake immediately after frosting, but Giovanna recommends letting the glaze set for neater slicing and serving. A brief 30 minutes is all it needs—and we promise it’s worth the wait.