Here’s one of those cakes you make and immediately know you’ve done something slightly outstanding! ;D In the best possible way. I won’t lie, when I first came across this recipe I wasn’t entirely sure if it was Brazilian or Portuguese, there is a lot of cross pollination between these brotherly countries! ;D
We all know brigadeiro is as Brazilian as it gets, a sweet created in the 1940’s to celebrate a presidential campaign, with the name sake of the sweet being the rank of the presidential candidate, a brigadier, it slowly become of those omnipresent sweets in Brazil, its pretty much everywhere, with a ton of variations, you cant escape it! ;D
So a cake made with brigadeiro makes all the sense, this is one of several different recipes, I like this one because it creates a more dense cake (that you help along with a syrup) that not only combines well with the brigadeiro filling but kinda complements it, if you make a softer cake when you cut the brigadeiro filling (that is denser) would smoosh the cake, so you kinda need a more stable cake.
Both the cake batter and the brigadeiro filling are simple enough on their own, it is really just about patience and a generous amount of chocolate sprinkles. It is absolutely a celebration cake, the kind where a small slice is genuinely enough for most people, which is probably a good thing because it is wonderfully, unashamedly indulgent ;D
And yes, it looks amazing on the table. That coating of chocolate sprinkles, classic brigadeiro style coating, makes it instantly recognizable and just a little bit dramatic, which is exactly what a cake like this deserves. So if you are looking for something to bring to a birthday, an anniversary, or just to make people very, very happy on a random Saturday, this is the one. Yeah you will want a nice cold tall glass of milk nearby or a strong coffee, hehehe. Trust me on that. Let’s check the recipe!
Brazilian Brigadeiro Fudge Chocolate Layered Cake
The Brigadeiro cake is one of those cakes you know makes any celebration table shine, it's one of those that gives a lot of... ohhhh would you look at that cake... kind of moments! ;D
Ingredients
- Eggs – 4
- Sugar – 320g
- Cocoa Powder – 160g
- Oil – 120ml
- Flour – 480g
- Water – 120ml
- Baking Powder – 15g
- Butter – For greasing
- Flour – For dusting
- Condensed Milk – 2 cans (+/- 800g)
- Butter – 30g
- Chocolate Powder – 320g
- Cream – 240ml
- Rum – 30ml
- Sugar – 15g
- Milk – 300ml
- Chocolate Sprinkles – To Sprinkle (+/- 150g)
Directions
- First, make the cake batter. Put the 320g of sugar in a bowl and mix in the 4 eggs one at a time. Then add the 120ml of oil, 120ml of water, and 160g of cocoa powder until you have a smooth mixture.
- Next, sift the 480g of flour and 15g of baking powder into the mixture.
- Grease a cake pan well with butter and dust with flour. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC (350ºF) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Then make the brigadeiro filling. In a small saucepan, combine the 2 cans of condensed milk, 30gr of butter, and 320gr of chocolate powdered (or cocoa powder if you want a more adult version). Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches the brigadeiro consistency (when the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball).
- Remove from heat, add the 240ml of heavy cream, and stir again until you have a smooth cream (it will lose the consistency of brigadeiro but it will still taste like brigadeiro).
- Now prepare the syrup for the cake, bring the 300ml of milk, 30ml of rum, and the 15g of sugar to a boil, then remove from the heat and let it cool (don’t pour it hot, as this will ruin the cake).
- Finally, assemble the cake. Let it cool before cutting it in half or into 3 parts (I prefer 3 parts). The best way is to use dental floss or another thin wire that easily cuts the cake; alternatively, use a serrated bread knife.
- Pour the syrup over the 3 sections of the cake. You don’t need to pour it all, just enough to make it moist.
- Then divide the brigadeiro filling into 3 parts, fill the cake, and then cover it all with the remaining filling. Decorate with chocolate sprinkles. And that’s it! Enjoy!
The brigadeiro filling is ready when it clearly pulls away from the bottom of the pan and starts forming a mass. Do not rush this step. If you pull it off the heat too early it will be too loose to hold between the layers. Patience here is everything, you want it to caramelize the condensed milk, that’s a lot of the flavour and texture!
Adding the heavy cream at the end, off the heat, is what transforms the thick brigadeiro paste into a creamy, spreadable frosting. Do not skip it and do not add it while the pan is still on the stove.
Make sure the syrup is completely cooled before applying it to the cake layers. If you pour it warm it will cause the cake to fall apart, and nobody wants that after all this work. Also after poring the syrup the cake will be ultra fragile, i put one slice on the serving dish and the other on separate plates, so after adding the syrup it’s just a matter of sliding each on top, instead of trying to pick up the cake!
Whether you go for 2 or 3 layers, the dental floss trick really does work beautifully, just wrap it around the cake at the height you want, cross the ends, and pull slowly and steadily. A serrated bread knife is the next best option. And 3 layers is the best to have that level of filling to cake be perfect, with 2 layers you will feel like too much filling and too little cake ;D
Again sorry for the not so great photos, it’s again a very old recipe, before i was a pro on this hehehe Hey! Not the baking part! The writing recipes and taking great photos part! 😛
This recipe for Brazilian Brigadeiro Fudge Chocolate Layered Cake was originally created on BakeAfter.com.
Nutrition
Per Serving: 601 calories; 18 g fat; 100.7 g carbohydrates; 9.1 g protein.Did you try this recipe?
Let me know how it turned out for you! You can leave a comment below ;D
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