Vegan Brazilian Carrot Cake (Bolo De Cenoura)
Vegan Brazilian carrot cake - a moist, tender, super soft carrot sponge cake topped with a rich chocolate fudge frosting.
Servings 12 people
Ingredients
Cake:
- 300 g (peeled weight) carrots roughly chopped
- 145 g (160 ml/⅔ cup) neutral oil (I use olive, do not use coconut)
- 225 g (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) caster or granulated sugar
- 80 g (⅓ cup) Greek style soya yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar
- 50 g (5 packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 270 g (2 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
Chocolate Fudge Frosting:
- 30 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
- 80 g (6 Tablespoons) caster or granulated sugar
- 180 g (¾ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 30 g (2 Tablespoons) vegan block butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 125 g (4 ½ oz) dark chocolate finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a 20 cm/8 in square cake tin with baking parchment.
- Place the roughly chopped carrots in a blender along with the oil, sugar, yogurt, vanilla extract and vinegar. Blend until completely smooth, with no lumps of carrot.300 g (peeled weight) carrots, 145 g (160 ml/⅔ cup) neutral oil (I use olive, do not use coconut), 225 g (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) caster or granulated sugar, 80 g (⅓ cup) Greek style soya yogurt, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar
- Pour the blended mixture into a large bowl and use a balloon whisk to whisk in the cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, followed by the plain flour. Be careful not to over-beat the batter, stop mixing as soon as it is fully combined.50 g (5 packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch), 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), ¼ teaspoon salt, 270 g (2 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then carefully turn it out onto a wire cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
- Once the cake has cooled make the frosting. Place the cocoa powder, milk, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt in a pan over a low heat. Whisk until melted and smooth then bring up to a simmer.30 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder, 80 g (6 Tablespoons) caster or granulated sugar, 180 g (¾ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy), 30 g (2 Tablespoons) vegan block butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, stir until melted then set aside to cool and firm up to a spreadable consistency before using a palette knife to spread it over the cake. If you leave it too long and it sets too firm, simply place the pan over a low heat for a few seconds whilst stirring and it will become spreadable again.125 g (4 ½ oz) dark chocolate
Notes
- See post abover for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- I use a 20 cm (8 in) square cake tin but a 23 cm (9 in) tin will also work. The cake may bake slightly quicker as it is thinner.