I’m behind on blogging recipes again, but what’s new right? Ha! Tonight, we had the missionaries over for dinner, and one of them eats gluten-free. I always have a hard time with gluten-free desserts. I don’t keep specialty flours around the house and usually, they don’t taste that great. I love bread and desserts and the more gluten the better! Just serve ice cream and you’ve got a gluten-free (well, some flavors aren’t) dessert – right? My daughter really wanted to make a gluten-free dessert, so she searched Pinterest. My requirement was no specialty flours and had to be from things we usually have around the house. Well, she found a Qunioa Chocolate Cake. Hmmm. Interesting. It sounded good. Odd, but good. Plus, we usually have Qunioa around the house, so thought we would try it.
Can I tell you I might like it better than regular flour cakes?? What?!?! Don’t tell my beloved gluten! Ok, I am not actually a big cake fan (give me a brownie, cheesecake, pie, cookie, bar, etc.), but it is dessert and I’ll eat it! This cake was really good. I was shocked. My kids asked for seconds (and thirds if I had let them!). It was a big hit!
The Quinoa Chocolate Cake is dense and very rich. I probably liked it so much because I enjoy a dense cake – more brownie like and I love brownies! If you are looking for an alternative cake, this is the recipe! I know it will be my go to cake from now on!
I wanted to use my Caramel Frosting recipe on it – because let’s face it, I’m obsessed. But my daughter REALLY wanted Chocolate and it was her cake, so we did Chocolate, and it was goood! Next time though (yes, there will be a next time, even if we don’t have any gluten-free eaters!), It’s going to be my Caramel Frosting!
Also, remember to use my trick for getting flat cakes! It worked perfectly for these cakes as well! Also, if you freeze the cakes before frosting, it helps so much when stacking and frosting! Trust me! Wrap each layer in plastic and freeze for a few hours or overnight – it will make all the difference in stacking and frosting your cake nicely!
Note: I used about 2/3 – 3/4 cup dry Quinoa to make this. My quinoa required twice as much water to Quinoa ratio to make. So I used 3/4 cup dry Quinoa and 1 1/2 cup water. I brought the water to a boil, the dropped the heat to a simmer, covered, and simmered for about 10ish minutes until the water was gone. Let sit for a few minutes and fluff with a fork. Make according to your directions, but ONLY make with water. Do not use recipes that require you to boil the Quinoa in broth.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked and cooled Quinoa (see note above about cooking)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup butter – melted and cooled
- 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Frosting: use your favorite Buttercream frosting, my favorite chocolate buttercream frosting, or my Caramel Frosting
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 round cake pans.
Combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a food processor (or blender). Process until just combined. Add in your cooked Quinoa and butter. Blend until smooth. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the food processor contents into the dry contents bowl with a whisk or spoon until combined. Divide the batter between the cake pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then invert the cakes onto a cooling rack. After cooled, you can wrap the layers and freeze (I always try to freeze the layers, because they stack and frost easier!), or simply frost the cake using your favorite frosting.
Eat and Enjoy! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked and cooled Quinoa (see note above about cooking)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup butter - melted and cooled
- 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Frosting: use your favorite Buttercream frosting, my favorite chocolate buttercream frosting, or my Caramel Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease 2 round cake pans.
- Combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a food processor (or blender).
- Process until just combined.
- Add in your cooked Quinoa and butter.
- Blend until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix in the food processor contents into the dry contents bowl with a whisk or spoon until combined.
- Divide the batter between the cake pans.
- Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then invert the cakes onto a cooling rack.
- After cooled, you can wrap the layers and freeze (I always try to freeze the layers, because they stack and frost easier!), or simply frost the cake using your favorite frosting.
