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Moist Quinoa Chocolate Cake

By DK on Dec 23, 2012

Best Quinoa Chocolate Cake Recipe | Quinoa Recipes | Quinoa Desserts Recipes

Regular visitors to chefinyou know of my penchant for whole foods. Well, I am sure they also know of my (and the family's) dislike for anything sweet including Chocolate. So, if this post shocks you, have to say, you are justified. I was shocked too. Dumbfounded in fact, when I witnessed a miracle - a 50% of the cake disappeared even before I could take a final picture (hence half a cake in the final picture is missing!). Oh yes, humoring the blogger in me is NOT a trait with my family. After being quite generous the first few times, my husband last few years has a quip ready to the point that I mouth the reason the same time as him! - "Hey, you know you can always make this again!"

Introducing new anything takes time with my family. I have to tread slowly and do loads of customization for them to like it. Take Quinoa for ex; While I jumped into the bandwagon with full gusto, my husband outright banned the thing from the dining table. The typical recipe assortment you chance upon in the Internet involves making a salad out of Quinoa. Oh, how he hates the word. So, I had to resort to other ways of getting it into his meals - Quinoa Omelet (this found 200% f(l)avor with him), Quinoa Dinner rolls, Quinoa croquettes and some. Now I find myself doing the same with my little one. I introduced it to him with this Strawberry Banana Quinoa Muffins and given that he has been slowly venturing into the world of sweets (that are mildly sweetened), I thought a cake with chocolate would do the trick.

I chanced upon a quinoa cake recipe from a cookbook that I loved. Inspired by it, I tried this version of mine to raving success. I prefer nutty flavors with chocolate, hence opted for coconut oil in this as a replacement for butter. Not only does it reduce the cholesterol (compared to butter) but also provides the flavor. Instead of regular sugar, I added Coconut sugar with little cane sugar thrown in ( wanted to use up last of the remaining sugar in my pantry). This cake is deliciously moist and light. The chocolate flavor abounds with the coconut flavor permeating it beautifully. This cake is not that sweet, hence for those needing more, a frosting would benefit. We enjoyed it with Raspberry coulis that I think goes v well with chocolate cakes. Though this cake is healthy, its calorie dense too, so those watching their intake, help yourself to thin slices.

References

recipe inspired from quinoa 365

Basic Information

Prep Time: Under 15 min

Cook Time: 1 to 2 hours

Serves: 8+ people

Yield: Makes 1 large (9.75 inch) Bundt Cake (serves 8-12 ppl) though I would suggest cutting this cake into 24 pieces with each piece making one serving.

Ingredients

For the Cake

2/3 cup Quinoa
1-1/3 cup water
1/3 cup 1 % fat Buttermilk
2 large Eggs
4 large Egg Whites
1 tsp pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted and cooled, see Tips
1 cup Coconut Sugar, see Tips
1/2 cup Cane Sugar, see Tips
1 cup unsweetened Cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt

For the Raspberry Coulis

1 lb (450 grams) frozen Raspberries
Honey to taste
Fresh Raspberries to garnish

Tips

1. Coconut oil: I use Extra Virgin Coconut oil for this. You can replace this with butter or Olive oil.

2. Coconut and Cane Sugar : Because of the reason I mention in the previous para, I have used this amounts. You can either use 1-1/2 cups Coconut Sugar or 1-1/2 cups Cane sugar. If you don't have either ones, you can use regular white sugar instead.

If you want to Bake using Microwave pls refer to these articles:
1) How to Bake in Microwave
2) How to Bake in Microwave Convection Oven

For making Substitutions please refer my handy chart:
1) Baking substitutions
2) Egg Substitutions

Method

Combine the Quinoa and water in a saucepan.

Bring it to a boil.

Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and set aside the covered saucepan for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow the quinoa to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a large bundt pan. You can use room temperature butter or shortening (or vegetable oil). I use a tissue to apply the grease all over the pan making sure to cover the indentations.

Since this is a chocolate cake, I use Cocoa powder instead of flour. Just sprinkle about 1 tsp of the powder

and pat the pan, gradually rotating it so that the powder sticks to the pan wherever you have applied the grease.

Set this pan aside. If you don't have a bundt pan, you can also use two 8-inch (20-cm) round or square cake pans. Don't forget to line the bottoms with parchment paper.

Combine the buttermilk, eggs, egg whites and vanilla in a blender or food processor by giving it few whirls.

Add 2 cups of the cooked quinoa and the coconut oil

Blend until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar(s), cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the contents of the blender

and mix well

until combined. A nice folding action is more than enough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake on the center oven rack for about 50 mins (or 40 to 45 minutes for the smaller round/square pans) or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan before serving.

While that's cooling, lets prepare the coulis. Add the frozen raspberries to a saucepan and heat in medium-high. If adding fresh raspberries, add few tbsp of water.

Bring it to boil and cook until it becomes a sauce. Should take about 10 minutes.

Strain the puree well

and sweeten it as desired with honey (or any other sweetener of your preference)

Turn out the cake into a serving plate. You can frost this if desired. It keeps well stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or frozen up to 1 month. I served it lightly dusted with powdered sugar, coulis and few fresh raspberries. Best Quinoa Chocolate Cake Recipe | Quinoa Recipes | Quinoa Desserts Recipes