Chocolate Quinoa Cake

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Leave a comment if you have any questions, or let me know how it came out.
Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is a gluten free very healthy grain. It contains a complete set of amino acids, making the grain a complete protein on its own.It’s important to rinse quinoa before cooking because it has a bitter coating, which is a natural insect repellant. It’s not harmful, but just doesn’t taste good. Rinse it well in a sieve.
This cake is gluten free and can be made dairy free and Kosher Parve as well

Ingredients:
2/3 cup quinoa
1 1/3 cup water
4 eggs
1/3 cup of milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Boil quinoa and water in a saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 min. Turn off and leave the saucepan covered for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow it to cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9 inch round pans. I bought Silicone Round Cake Pans on Amazon, and it’s very easy to get the cake out of it. It doesn’t stick at all. Or you can line the bottoms of the regular baking pans with parchment paper.

Combine milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Add 2 cups of cooked quinoa and melted butter and continue to blend until smooth.

Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a medium bowl. Add these contents to the blender and mix well. Divide the batter evenly between 2 pans and bake for 20 min. If you use smaller cake pans, then adjust the baking time accordingly. When a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, it’s ready.

Remove the cake pans and cool. I usually put them in the refrigerator and then frost the next day.

Dark chocolate butter frosting:

This frosting is so good, you won’t be able to stop licking the pan
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar (make sure you sift it)
1/3 cups of milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

Cream butter in a bowl. Add sifted sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, milk. Beat it really well with a mixer.
If you want a softer consistency frosting, then add a little more milk.

For dairy free, kosher parve, I used Earth Balance Original – Natural Buttery Spread. Make sure it’s the original flavor – buttery spread, other flavors of Earth balance won’t whip very good for frosting. And instead of regular milk, I used almond milk, and the cake tasted great too.

( Here’s a slice of it, if you’re interested in seeing the texture).

This cake is perfect for Valentine’s Day, or any other occasion. I usually make a different design with mini chocolate chips depending on the occasion. It  freezes well too.