Delicious Quinoa Chocolate Cake

This weekend we were all craving something a little chocolatey, and I came across a great recipe from the Planet Organic cookbook. This turned out to be a really moist chocolate cake and was a hit with the kids.
Chocolate Quinoa Cake

This healthy cake brings together the chocolate of the Mayan empire with the protein-rich Quinoa of the Aztecs to create a rich, yet delicate treat.
Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa, rinsed
2 cups Apple cider or juice
3/4 cup Butter
2/3 cup Fair trade cocoa powder
3/4 cup Rice syrup
3/4 cup Pure honey
1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups soy milk
3 Eggs
2 cups Quinoa flour
1 cup Unbleached white flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Sea salt
1/3 cup Hazelnuts, toasted and ground fine

*I substituted the rice syrup/honey with ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup honey and ¼ cup agave syrup. I also used 3 cups dark rye flour instead of the quinoa flour and white flour. You could use any variation of flours (spelt, kamut, rice etc). I also used pecans instead of hazelnuts.
Method

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare quinoa by rinsing under water for one minute. Drain. In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring the apple juice to a boil and add quinoa. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 20 minutes or until all juice is absorbed and quinoa is soft. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and set aside.

In a mixer, cream butter, cocoa, rice syrup, honey and vanilla. Add eggs and mix until combined. Combine flours, baking powder, salt and nuts and add alternately with milk, stirring by hand until well combined. Fold in cooled quinoa and spread batter into a greased or lined baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before icing. Use the Chocolate Glaze recipe on page 21 for an added touch of flavour.

Yields 10 servings.

Enjoy!

Dr. Anna Falkowski HBSc, ND
Naturopathic Doctor & Clinic Director
Vitality for Life Health Center
www.vitalityforlife.ca

Dr. Anna Falkowski HBSc, ND
Naturopathic Doctor, Clinic Director
info@vitalityforlife.ca
www.vitalityforlife.ca
Twitter: @NaturoDoctor
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