Chocolate Quinoa Flourless Cake

You need this flourless, gluten free Chocolate Quinoa Flourless Cake recipe in your life.

I’ve been promising to post this chocolate quinoa flourless cake so here it is! I make this cake quite often for the following reasons. First, it’s made out of quinoa so it’s a protein filled, powerhouse food. Second, there’s no guilt eating it. Third, it’s chocolate. Lastly, it’s freaking delicious. I couldn’t believe quinoa could actually taste this good. If you’re looking for a gluten free option for cake, this is it. 

The first few times I made this, I skipped the blender part and just hand mixed. Big mistake! It was still good but you gotta use the blender so that the quinoa breaks apart and transforms into a finer texture. I adapted the recipe from here. I made a few modifications like reducing the sugar content, using regular salt and making a whipped cream frosting. Before I share my take on this fine cake, here is what a bag of quinoa looks like.

I’ve noticed Costco sells it the cheapest but it’s still not cheap.  It’s definitely increased in price the last couple of years. This bag costs around $17. The good thing is it should last you good while. To make this particular cake, you will need a little less than a cup of quinoa to produce 2 cups of cooked quinoa.

Chocolate Quinoa Flourless Cake 

• 2 cups loosely packed cooked quinoa (just follow the directions on the quinoa bag)
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Whipped Cream Frosting 

• 1 box of heavy whipping cream (1 quart)
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray your 2 round pans with cooking spray and then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. (I usually line the whole pan).

In your blender, combine the eggs, vanilla and milk. Blend for a just a few seconds to mix the ingredients. Add in the cooked quinoa and melted butter and blend again until smooth. You will notice that the quinoa becomes a much finer consistency. Scrape and mix so that there are no quinoa beads visible. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients into the blender including the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Just mix it by hand with the spatula to make sure it’s evenly distributed. Your batter should be pretty thick at this point.

Divide the batter into the 2 pans and cook on center rack for about 30 minutes.  Use a toothpick to insert in the cake and if it comes out clean, it’s done. Take out the cakes and place them on a cooling rack to make sure they are completely cool. I usually peel off the parchment paper after it’s cooled down.

I recommend waiting a couple of hours before you frost. If you don’t want to wait, then place the cakes in the freezer or fridge to cool faster. Just make sure to peel off the parchment paper. I also recommend making the whipped cream immediately before frosting. If you let it sit out, the frosting will lose it’s thick consistency. Also, if you put it in the fridge, it will be too hard to frost. I found it’s best to frost immediately after whipping.

Grab a cute little helper to frost the cake! For this frosting, pour your heaving whipping cream and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and whip using either a hand blender or mixer. Taste it and if you want it sweeter, add more powdered sugar. This is just the ratio I like it because it’s not terribly sweet. You will notice that the whipped frosting is done when it starts to peak and it becomes a super thick consistency. At this point, you can stop the machine and start frosting the cake using a cake spatula. This is enough frosting to generously place in between the cake and frost the outer layer. Place the cake in the fridge for at least 2 hours so that the frosting can set before serving. If you have frosting left over, store it in a container in the fridge and scoop some to enjoy with the pancake recipe I shared here! They go perfectly together.

For Jimmy’s birthday cake, I made three layers so I added in another half of the recipe. I put strawberries in between each layer and then added strawberries and raspberries on the outside.

It’s best eaten with friends 🙂

Enjoy!!

xoxo,

yuni

Let all that you do be done in Love. 1 Corinthians 16:14

Chocolate Quinoa Flourless Cake

2015-01-10 05:54:10

Serves 8

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Cook Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 2 cups loosely packed cooked quinoa (just follow the directions on the quinoa bag)
2. 3/4 cup melted butter
3. 4 eggs
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla
5. 1/3 cup milk
6. 1 cup white sugar
7. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
8. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
9. 1/2 teaspoon salt
10. 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
11. 1 box of heavy whipping cream (1 quart)
12. 2/3 cup powdered sugar
13. (optional) strawberries and raspberries to decorate and fill the cake

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your 2 round pans with cooking spray and then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
2. In your blender, combine the eggs, vanilla and milk. Blend for a just a few seconds to mix the ingredients.
3. Add in the cooked quinoa and melted butter and blend again until smooth. Scrape and mix so that there are no quinoa beads visible.
4. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients into the blender including the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Mix by hand until evenly distributed.
5. Divide the batter into the 2 pans and cook on center rack for about 30 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if it's done. Completely cool on wire racks before frosting.

Frosting

1. Pour your heaving whipping cream and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and whip using either a hand blender or mixer for few minutes until it peaks and reaches a thick consistency.
2. Frost generously in between cakes and outside of cakes. Place in fridge for at least a few hours for the frosting to set

Notes

1. Make sure not to overcook the cakes as it can get dry. Make the whipped cream frosting immediately before frosting the cakes.

By Yuni Min

Adapted from Barefeet in the Kitchen

Adapted from Barefeet in the Kitchen

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