Brigadeiro Cake
This Brigadeiro Cake is sponsored by Nestlé.
Ask any Brazilian what is their favorite cake and you will always get the same answer: brigadeiro cake. Absolutely nothing compares to this rich, fudgy, moist chocolate cake! If you love brigadeiro, this is a must-try!
Be still my heart! The cake I’ve been craving for the longest time is finally here. ❤️
I had dreams about brigadeiro cake throughout my whole pregnancy, but couldn’t have it because of my diet restrictions. Well, those restrictions are gone and I’m free to eat whatever I want.
It is also Rebecca’s 3rd month-versary, so I thought it was the perfect occasion to share a cake here on the blog! After all, I survived the infamous “4th trimester” y’all! *bows graciously*
If you know any Brazilians, you know that we are serious about our brigadeiro. It is the nation’s most loved sweet treat and is a must have at any birthday party!
I’m not going to get into the history of brigadeiro, as I already wrote all about it on my “Traditional Brigadeiros” post. Head over there if you wanna learn some more about this beloved docinho, including why it is called “brigadeiro”.
For right now, there is only one thing you should know: we are going all in, y’all!
The brigadeiro cake – which easily feeds a crowd – consists of four layers of a super moist and delicious chocolate cake, filled with soft brigadeiro and covered with even more brigadeiro. ??? As Brazilians would say, it’s “bem brigadeirudo”!
The trick to make a softer brigadeiro for the filling, is adding a can of table cream off the heat, after the brigadeiro is ready.
Table cream is a staple ingredient in Brazilian cuisine and it took me a long time to realize I could find it here in the States. I used to travel all the way to Queens to buy my precious “creme de leite de latinha” (which translates to “canned heavy cream”) at a Brazilian store, since heavy cream wouldn’t cut it for the recipes I wanted to make.
Then, one day I was walking by the hispanic aisle at my neighborhood supermarket when I saw it: the same table cream, the same brand, but a different name: Media Crema.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! And I couldn’t believe one of my favorite ingredients was there all along, right under my nose!
If you’re not familiar with it, Media Crema is a shelf-stable table cream that can be used as an ingredient (or topping) in many savory and sweet dishes.
Unlike the heavy cream, which needs to be refrigerated, the table cream – also known as light cream – can live in your pantry and will last a long time! In fact, before I found out I could find it here in the US, I used to bring back a bunch of cans every time I traveled to Brazil!
It also has a little less fat than heavy cream, around 20% vs 35+% of heavy cream, hence why you can’t make whipped cream with it.
If you plan on making lots of Brazilian dishes – especially our desserts – I would find it in your grocery store and would get familiar with it. You will be using it a lot!
You will notice that the recipe asks you to remove the serum from the table cream. That’s also very common in Brazilian recipes, especially when you want to use the cream to thicken something.
The easiest way to do that is to pop the table cream can (make sure to wash it before doing that) in the freezer for 20 minutes and, when cold, make two small holes with a knife (or can opener) in the bottom of the can. Then, turn the can back up (bottom side down) over a recipient, and all the serum will come out. All that will be left is the pure cream, ready to be used!
This brigadeiro cake might look like a lot – especially when you read the recipe – but a little goes a long way and you’ll be able to feed about 20 people. It is perfect for birthdays or special occasions! You can even make it for Christmas and decorate with red, white and green sprinkles.
I happen to prefer this cake cold, so if you want, you can make this cake the day before you’re planning on serving it! Just let it sit at room temperature for a little while so it’s still cold but not as stiff, as brigadeiro cake is supposed to be very soft and moist.
I hope you guys enjoy this! It is truly my favorite cake in the whole world.
Brigadeiro Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 8 eggs
- 300ml (about 1 1/3 cups) whole milk
- 255ml (about 1 cup) vegetable oil
- 2 + 1/4 cups brown sugar (360g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste (or 4 teaspoons vanilla extract)
- 2 + 3/4 cups all purpose flour (365g)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (37g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- A pinch of salt
Chocolate Soak (to moisten the cake)
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cognac
Brigadeiro Filling
- 2 cans (28 oz total) sweet condensed milk
- 280g bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 can Media Crema (225ml), serum removed (*see notes)
Brigadeiro Frosting
- 2 cans (28 oz total) sweet condensed milk
- 300g bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Chocolate sprinkles to decorate
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Butter two 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper. Brush another layer of butter over the parchment paper circles and then dust with flour, removing the excess. Reserve.
- In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Then, add the brown sugar and mix again.
- Sift together all the dry ingredients and add them to the liquids, mixing well with a hand mixer, until there are no lumps left.
- Divide the batter equally into the two pans and bring them to the oven.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Making the Chocolate Soak
- Combine all the ingredients (minus vanilla and cognac) in a saucepan. Bring it to the stove, over medium low heat, stirring constantly.
- When it starts boiling, remove from heat and let it cool down. Then, add the vanilla and cognac. Reserve.
Making the Brigadeiro Filling
- In a saucepan, combine the sweet condensed milk, chocolate and butter. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. (A way to know is to run your wooden spoon - or spatula - across the pan. If you see the bottom of the pan, the brigadeiro is ready!)
- Remove brigadeiro from heat and add the Media Crema, mixing well.
- Transfer the brigadeiro to a butter plate and cover with plastric wrap. Reserve until cooled to room temperature.
Brigadeiro Frosting
- Repeat the steps above, minus the table cream.
Assembling cake
- Level the cakes and slice each cake into two layers making a total of four layers of cake.
- Place the bottom layer on a flat serving platter or a cake stand lined with strips of waxed paper to keep it clean while assembling the cake. Brush with the chocolate soak and top with 1/3 of the brigadeiro filling, spreading smoothly with a spatula. Repeat with the next two layers, finishing off with a cake layer brushed with chocolate soak.
- Bring the cake to the freezer for 30 minutes before frosting.
- Then, spread the brigadeiro frosting evenly around the side and over the top of the cake. You will have extra to make brigadeiro balls to decorate. Pop that in the fridge so it's easier to roll the balls.
- Top the cake with chocolate sprinkles, covering both the top and sides.
- With the remaining brigadeiro frosting, make chocolate balls (it's easier if you grease your hands with butter) and roll them on chocolate sprinkles.
- Decorate the cake with the brigadeiro balls and serve (or refrigerate overnight).
Notes
To remove the table cream's serum, wash the can and pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes. When cold, make two small holes with a knife (or can opener) in the bottom of the can. Then, turn the can back up (bottom side down) over a recipient, and all the serum will come out.
*Recipe adapted from here.
41 Comments on “Brigadeiro Cake”
It looks divine!!! I need to make it
Is there another name for table cream. Never heard of it here in Australia
Heavy cream or half and half
It LOOKS like it might be light cream.Except that the recipe says to drain the “serum” from the cream, and American cream is homogenized, so that wouldn’t be possible. I guess we’ll have to look for Media Creme. I was wondering how we’d know when the “serum” was drained and we were not losing the cream from the top.
the watery liquid coming out is like “cloudy” water and the cream is white and creamy, thicker
I made it for thanksgiving!
It was time consuming but it was worth it!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe :)
Help! I can’t find Media Crema anywhere! I live in Vancouver, Canada. Any ideas for what I could use instead? Would Carnation Thick Cream work?? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Hi Catie, I’m not familiar with that cream. If you want, send me a photo at oliviascuisine@gmail.com and I’ll help you figure out. You can also go to a Brazilian supermarket and search for “creme de leite”. If you can’t find it, you can use regular heavy cream and cook a bit longer so it’s not too liquidy! Best, Olivia
I just googled. I think the Carnation thick cream is the same as Media Crema here in the US! :)
Oba oba has it. It’s a Brazilian store. The address is 3565 Kingsway Vancouver.
Hi! Would love to try this! What do you mean by: “Transfer the brigadeiro to a butter plate”? A plate that is buttered? Thank you
It looks divine… great pictures!
what exactly is serum?
Nossa bateu até uma saudade do Brasil agora!
Froze the crema for 20 min, poked holes in the bottom, but nothing is coming out! Now what?
not sure how much pure crema should be left to add to the filling?
Also, how much of the “soak” should be brushed on each layer so that it is moist but not too soggy?
In South Africa we call the Media Cream/Table Cream Ideal Milk or Carnation Milk :-)
good poooost
I am not a fan of chocolate, but I am in love with the coconut brigadeiro. When I saw the recipe for the cake, I thoughT I should give it a try. My husband is from Brazil, and I’m hoping to surprise him with a recipe similar to the coconut brigadeiro. Do you have any suggestions on a cake recipe for it?
Lastly, I just moved to New York, and I’m 1 hour from the city. Do you know of any Brazilian spots I may visit?
Hi Brittney! Are you looking for the coconut brigadeiro or a coconut brigadeiro cake?
Also, in NYC I recommend the restaurants Casa and Berimbau. Also the steakhouses Plataforma and Fogo de Chão. I keep hearing about Samba Kitchen (in Hell’s Kitchen) but haven’t tried it yet! Brooklyn has a good Brazilian bar called Beco. I know Queens has a bunch of options but I haven’t really explored them!
You should definitely visit Berimbau do Brasil and Fogo de Chão. They are really good restaurants.
I just made this cake cake with my friend (her name is Maddie. This recipe was very time consuming. My cake is currently in the fridge waiting for the brigadeiro to set. The recipe calls for a perfect amount of brigadeiro. My husband is from Brasil so for the last several months I’ve been exploring Brazilian recipes online. I think this cake will only be made for special occasions because of how long the recipe is.
Once you rate the cake, you will see that it is worth all the work! :) I’m working on a simpler version, made in the blender, for not so special occasions.
Hi,
We don’t have table cream in Germany so I used creme fraiche. Does anyone have an idea what to use instead or if creme fraiche or if you can make table cream at home?
Sadly I added the creme before the brigadeiro was ready and I think because I gave it too little time to cool down, so the filling dripped down the sides of the cake, which got crooked and almost collapsed in the process.. So I guess room temperature is almost a little to much for the filling (?). It’s been in the fridge all night and now the filling has hardened a little. I think I can still save it.
Obrigado from Germany :)
We can not have alcohol in our home. Is there something I could replace it with or maybe just leave it out all together?
Just leave it out! 😊
You state all ingredients in American measures- except the bittersweet chocolate is in grams. Please give the American equivalent. Thank you! Am eager to try making this cake!!
Dear Olivia!!!!
THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES FOR EVER AND EVER FOR THE VERY ABSOLUTELY BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF CAKES!!!
Seriously I have been searching and trying baking lots and tons of chocolate cakes with big fails and no good taste at all!
I was looking for that “soaked moist” bite and the taste to it as well as a frosting as decadent and creamy delicious with no luck UNTIL I FOUND YOUR RECIPE!
Let me tell you that in 1 1/5 week I baked it TWO TIMES! That good it is!
My family (and I ) and my girlfriends love it so much that as you can see don’t last to long!
Thanks a million for the very best cake ever!
Took a long time for me to find it but i guess it’s how they say: everything gets to us at the very right moment!
Blessings Olivia!
Best Regards
Zena
Olivia, do you think that if I want a smaller cake I can use half of the ingredients and it will work just fine?
Hi Aline, I haven’t tried, but I think it would work!! :)
Hi,
I’m not too big of a chocolate fan, but I love brigadeiro! Do you think I can make this with a vanilla cake instead?
Thanks!
Absolutely!
Hi ,I also want to make brazilian dessert,but I get confused because in some recipes they r using cornflour and in some recipes they r using ninho milk powder or eggs so tell me when we should use corn flour and milk powder or eggs for filling or frosting
Hi Usman, what recipe are you trying to make? Different recipes ask for different ingredients!
Help! The filling is very liquid! I measured and weighed. Will it thicken? This is for my triplet grandkids’ birthday tomorrow! Plz help
Hi Jeanne, I believe I helped you through private message on social media. For the lurkers: make sure your brigadeiro is thickened before adding the table cream!
Hi! Any shortcut/ simple version for the cake part?
Hi Denise, I suppose you could use a cake mix, but it won’t be the same! 😉
Ola muito prazer! I am very thankful for your english versions of the brasilian recipes. My husband is Brasilian and I am working to learn Portuguese still, getting there but still have trouble translating recipes online!
I would love to make this cake but in the coconut beijinho version com morango. Would it be the same recipe but substituting out the chocolate (and covering with coconut)?
Thank you again!
Hi, Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’m going to make it for my son’s birthday (my husband is Brazilian, so y’know).
I’m curious where the weight measurements come from, as the flour weight is much higher than the cup equivalent. (2 3/4 cup, 365 grams) Most accepted conversions are 120-135/cup. Would you suggest using the grams or the cups? Thank you for your assistance!