Recipe: Quinoa Chocolate Cake

Photo Courtesy of Babble.com

I owe this recipe to a dandy little site I came upon via Stumbleupon.com, Babble. Well, technically I owe 

it to the authors of a book called Quinoa 365: the Everyday Superfood, Patricia Green and Carolyn 

Hemming.  Before reading about quinoa on Babble's food blog, I only thought I knew two two things 

about quinoa... 1. I went around pronouncing it QUIN-oh-a. I soon realized that it is pronounced KEEN-

wah. Good thing a lot of non-Celiac people I talk with don't know what quinoa is, let alone how to 

properly pronounce it.   2. I thought it could only be used as a side dish, in the way that rice or beans 

usually are . I was very wrong about this. Who woulda thunk you could use little seed as a replacement

for flour?? Well my friends, not only is this possible, it is easy peasy and delicious! 

Ok, so this picture is not my best but I promise you, the cake is amazing! 

I made this cake myself and LOVED IT. The cake was much more moist than any other gluten free cake 

I've had, the quinoa added an added crunch texture element (whether that was intended or not, it tastes 

good!), and the flavor is rich and super chocolate-y! I don't even own any flour besides Bob's Red Mill 

Gluten Free Flour so I loved being able to bake a cake without needing to purchase and sort 2893748 

different types of flours. Win! 

Photo Courtesy of Babble.com

Photo Courtesy of Babble.com

Flour-Free Quinoa Chocolate Cake (courtesy of Babble.com/Quinoa 365)

2/3 cup white or golden quinoa
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
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

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow the quinoa to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round or square cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.

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

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the contents of the blender and mix well. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake on the center oven rack for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving. Frost if desired. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.