Recipe for chocolate quinoa cake – dairy and gluten free!

This chocolate quinoa cake is my signature recipe! It is a huge hit among family, friends and clients. It took me three years to finally find the right combination of ingredients.

If you want the same results as mine, follow the recipe exactly as specified below! Just trust me, I’ve made this cake in different variations over a hundred times.

[youtube height=”400″ width=”640″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMbNg_DZork[/youtube]

Wet Ingredients

2 cups of quinoa

2.5 cups water (to cook the quinoa)

2/3 cup non dairy milk (for best results use almond or coconut milk)

5 organic eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

6 tbsp melted coconut oil

2/3 cup maple syrup or liquid raw honey

Dry ingredients

1.5 cups organic cane sugar

6 tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp ground chia seeds

2 tbsp ground flax seeds

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

For frosting (three options):

1) White frosting – use one can of full fat coconut milk –  refrigerated overnight (the cold separates the fat from the milk and for this whip we need only the fat, use the ones that have 45% saturated fat or more, I use Thai Kitchen Brand, don’t use the light version of coconut milk because it won’t whip!). Place the solid part in a medium bowl, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or maple syrup and whip 3-5 minutes until you get the consistency you like. You can use it to frost the entire cake or as a contrast over the brown frosting, I used it to write “Happy Birthday” on my daughter’s birthday cake.

2) Brown frosting – use 1/3 cup melted coconut oil, honey/maple syrup as much as you like, 3 tbsp cocoa powder (preferably unsweetened). Blend everything and pour over the cake and refrigerate.

3) sprinkle gluten free icing sugar on top of cake just before serving (otherwise moisture in cake absorbs it)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly grease your baking dish (I used a silicon bundt shaped dish)
2. Rinse the quinoa with water and put it into a medium saucepan. Pour the water into pot on top of quinoa and bring to boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
3. While quinoa is cooking combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. When quinoa is ready add the entire content of saucepan to the blender, add coconut oil and maple syrup and blend until smooth.
4. Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, ground chia, ground flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour batter into baking dish and bake on the centre over rack for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before removing.
6. Prepare the frost (if using)

This cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to a month, although mine had never survived more than 1 day 

I made this cake for my daughter’s 4th birthday using the recipe above: