Carrot cake – Brazilian style

My mom used to bake cakes and make desserts every week. I’d always take a slice of freshly baked cake to school to eat as a snack between classes.

This cake is one of the most common cakes here in Brazil and it’s different from the American and European carrot cake recipes I’ve seen and made.

We blend the carrots with all the other ingredients and the cake has a beautiful and intense orange color.
There are no nuts, raisins or spices in this cake, and the cream cheese frosting is replaced by a chocolate icing – so simple and delicious that can be used in other cake recipes, too.

I once added chocolate chips to the batter – it was great!

Carrot cake – Brazilian style

250g carrots – aprox. 3 small carrots
260g all purpose flour
320g sugar
4 eggs – if you use very large eggs cut down to 3
200ml vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt

Chocolate icing:
4 tablespoons hot chocolate powder or 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF. Grease and flour a 24cm ring pan - I used a slightly smaller pan, and this is what happened:

Chop the carrots in small pieces.
Place all the ingredients in a blender – liquids first – and blend for a couple of minutes until you get a creamy mixture.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

For the icing: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it boils.
Remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before pouring it over the cake.

Serves 10-12.

Tenderloin medallions with carrot “farofa”

It’s amazing how many people I’ve been in contact with since I discovered the delicious (yep, pun intended) foodblog world – and then started my own blog.
People who share the passion for food I have, people who understand the excitement of trying a new recipe, of cooking for family and friends, of tasting new ingredients for the first time.

One of these people is Terry, from Blue Kitchen – a blog you’ll get addicted to visiting, I can assure you.

Terry and I exchanged some e-mails after I wrote a comment on his blog about a very Brazilian dish - rice and beans. He said he would cook it – I crossed my fingers (and toes, as well, just in case) hoping we would like it.

He did like it and made a beautiful post about it!

Thanks, Terry! I loved your post and I’m very glad to be a part of your fantastic blog.

To keep on the Brazilian food theme, I’ll post a “farofa” recipe – click here to know more about farofa.

This is a bit different farofa, for the recipe calls for grated carrots – one way my grandmother found to make my brother eat at least one more kind of vegetable, besides French fries.

I used to cook this dish all the time when I was single and lived with my father and my brother – who still won’t eat anything green.
I still make it now because Joao loves it.
A simple side dish, quick to put together and that goes well with many things.

Tenderloin medallions with carrot “farofa”

4 tenderloin medallions
4 rashers of bacon
salt and cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Farofa:
1 large carrot, roughly grated
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
½ small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley – I didn’t have any, but I always use it
40g olives, pitted and chopped
70g manioc flour – or more, if you like your farofa a little drier
salt and cracked black pepper

Season the medallions with salt and pepper.
Wrap each medallion with a rasher of bacon and secure it with a toothpick.
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and grill the medallions to your liking.
Remove toothpicks and serve.
I served the medallions with the sauce found in this recipe.

For the farofa:
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until light golden. Add the carrot, cook for 1 minute and then add the olives and parsley.
Add the manioc flour and mix well.
Season and serve.

Serves 4 – or 2, depending on how hungry they are!