Gluten Free Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Chocolate Quinoa Cake is one of those goodies you just want to bake because not only does it taste amazing, but it is a great conversation piece, as no one will believe you made it with quinoa and not one ounce of any kind of flour!  You can also tell them they are eating a healthy dessert that is packed with protein and amino acids (I mean, really, you know people are always looking to see how healthy their dessert can be)! This, also, is one of my husband's favorites, and he requests it often (and no, my husband is not the size of a house from eating all my gluten free baking).  It has also gotten rave reviews from others who I have served it to (even my neighbor, who I make try all my goodies, even though she is not so fond of chocolate.  I'm 
trying to convert her!).

Gluten Free Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Quinoa is a gluten free grain that tastes great sauteed with onions, garlic and olive oil...or pureed and mixed with chocolate.  There are not many ingredients you can say both of those things about, right?  Just make sure when making the Chocolate Quinoa Cake you nix the onions and garlic before pureeing the quinoa...because although I am a big fan of chocolate in almost every form, I'm not digging the thought of chocolate, onions and garlic.  I wouldn't have much of a following on this blog if I did, you know?

It is incredible to find that this cake, although containing no flour of any kind, gluten free or not, has a nice crumb to it and is rich and moist.  The few times I have made this cake, it didn't rise much (you might have better luck), but once sandwiched between thick chocolate frosting, it doesn't really matter!  Quinoa is also so easy to find in most all grocery stores, unlike a lot of the gluten free flours. Make sure to rinse your quinoa before cooking it, so it is not bitter.   I hope you try this amazing Chocolate Quinoa Cake out soon.  Let me know if you do!  I love to read your comments!

GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE QUINOA CAKE
recipe from Barefeet in the Kitchen, originally from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Click Here for Printable Recipe

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa, loosely packed
1/3 cup milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two round cake pans (or a 9x13 pan) and then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment (do not skip the parchment or you won't be able to flip the cake out of the pans).

Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in the blender or food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Add the cooked quinoa and the butter and puree until completely smooth (this takes a while for me).  Stop the machine as needed to scrape the sides and make sure everything is well mixed.  This will be a thick and creamy consistency once the quinoa is pureed.  Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the contents from the blender.  Stir until well combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake on a center oven rack for 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before inverting them onto a wire cooling rack.  Peel off the parchment and let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

Place the chocolate chips in a medium size glass bowl.  Heat the cream in a medium saucepan until it gently simmers.  Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.  Let this sit a few minutes.  Stir or whisk to combine, until the chocolate mixture is smooth and glossy.  Add the sugar and cocoa powder and stir until completely smooth. 

I poured the frosting over the bottom layer, then laid the top layer on and poured the rest over that and then put the cake in the fridge until the frosting set.  It was quite rustic looking, but great tasting, thick and fudgy.  If you want a more polished looking cake, you can put the frosting in the fridge first for a couple of hours, or until set, and then whip it up with a mixer into soft peaks and then frost the cake.