Healthy Brazil Nut Coconut Cake

In her most recent email from Brazil, Chelsea was glowing about the cakes she’s had at family dinners or seen in town shops. Apparently we are missing out big time. She has promised to send exact recipes for these “simply divine” cakes for recipe testing! We haven’t seen any recipes yet, but hearing all about these traditional Brazilian cakes, we learned that popular flavors include coconut and dulce de leche. Chelsea has been in Brazil almost 9 months and with her birthday coming up tomorrow, we got creative and came up with this one!

This cake contains many different aspects of a typical “Brazilian” cake. We don’t know if it can be termed traditional by any means but based on flavors praised in Chelsea’s emails, we figured we weren’t too far off. This cake is really just fun for it’s name! All we know is that it tastes ridiculously delicious with the honey-sweetened meringue frosting, caramel-like filling and loads of coconut.

From Chelsea’s advice, we brushed the cake with coconut milk to make it extra flavorful and creamy. This practice is very common in Brazil. It’s a brilliant step and frankly, is one that Americans need to adapt more often! It offsets the nutty, firmer texture of the nutty cake to create a wonderful soft bite. This cake is also naturally gluten-free!! A base of ground Brazil nuts, rice flour and eggs may be simple for a cake, but yields terrific flavor. We love that it’s not too sweet and is so healthy, you won’t have to resist the urge for seconds and thirds!

Happy Birthday, Chelsea! Sending lots of love your way!

Healthy Brazil Nut Coconut Cake (gluten-free and dairy-free)
Print Recipe

Nut Cake:
3/4 cup Brazil Nuts
11/4 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Large Eggs
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 8″ cake pans. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and honey on high speed until light and frothy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla. In a food processor, process the brazil nuts, rice flour and baking powder until a nutty flour. Add the flour to the eggs and gently fold into the mixture until combined. Pour into 2 greased pans and bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Custard Caramel Filling:
1/2 cup Coconut Sugar
1/3 cup Water
3 Large Egg Yokes
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1/4 teaspoon Corn Starch

In a sauce pan, combine the coconut sugar and water on medium heat with a candy thermometer. Bring the mixture to 200 degrees. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, combine the egg yokes, coconut milk and corn starch until combined. Pour this into the coconut sugar mixture. Cook on medium heat, stirring, for a couple minutes until it begins to thicken. The coconut sugar will make this filling darker in color so be careful not to burn. Remove from heat once it begin to thicken.

Meringue Frosting:
1/2 cup Egg Whites (about 4 egg whites)
2/3 cup Honey
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Vanilla Stevia

In a sauce pan, bring the honey to a boil on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Honey will darken in color and begin to foam. Meanwhile, in a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium high speed until they begin to froth and lighten in color. Turn speed up to high and begin whipping until soft peaks form. Continue beating for another 30 seconds and add the cream of tartar. When honey has darkened in color and has begin to bubble, begin adding honey slowly to the egg mixture, while mixing at high speed, over the course of a minute or so. When the honey has all been added, the meringue should be slightly shiny and have a firm peak. Add the stevia extract and beat until incorporated.

TO ASSEMBLE:

1/2-2/3 cup unsweetened Coconut Shreds
4 Tablespoons Coconut Milk

Place one cake on a cake stand or platter. Brush the cake with 2 tablespoons coconut milk, including the sides of the cake. Spread the caramel filling all over the cake, about 1/2 inch thick. Place the second cake on top. Brush with coconut milk. Cover the cake with meringue frosting. Top with coconut shreds and serve. Store cake covered in the refrigerator.

Adapted from this and this