Four yeas ago today, I sat in this very living room and started on a journey, I took out a little piece of the internet and starting pouring my love in to it. I started this blog because I had some spare time and a passion for food and photography. Today, I have that same passion but very little of that time, however I come here as often as I can and I am overwhelmed by the love and support I receive with every recipe posted. It seems impossible that four years have passed, in the blink of an eye, here we are. It’s been a crazy four years and I wouldn’t change a minute of it! Recently, I have started a new journey, and unknowingly you are all going through it with me! I’ve committed to a gluten-free lifestyle, what started a few weeks ago as an experiment is coming to reality as a life change. I’m not going to preach about why I’ve chosen to eliminate gluten or try and convince you to join me in my effort, I’m just going to say I used to feel icky a lot and now, I feel a lot less icky. This is a big change for me, and it may not be forever, maybe gluten won’t always hate me but right now it does so I am shunning it.
However, I am not shunning delicious food, or chocolate, or this amazing cake. I knew if I was going to make it on this adventure, I would need cake. And cake I found. This was the first gluten free dessert I have made (intentionally anyway), and I was pretty nervous about the flavor and the texture and the everything.. but seriously, you wouldn’t even know it doesn’t have gluten in it. You would most definitely never know this cake has quinoa in it (say whaaaa?!). It is so dense, moist, and perfectly chocolate, the only thing you’re going to be thinking is “can I have another piece?”. So celebrate four years with me, because after all this is your space too, thanks for sharing it with me!
Luscious Chocolate Cake {Gluten Free} (Print Me)
Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (**see note below)
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup cocoa powder
~3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
For the cake, preheat the oven to 350º F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
Place the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor and mix until combined. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter. Blend well until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the contents from the blender and whisk until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake on a rack in the middle position for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before inverting the cakes onto cooling racks and removing the parchment paper stuck to the bottoms.
While cooling, make the frosting. Melt the butter and stir in cocoa. Alternately, add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.
When the cake is completely cooled, place one layer upside down on a serving platter or plate. Top with a generous portion of frosting, spreading evenly. Gently put the other cake layer upside down on top of the frosted layer and spread with remaining frosting. Slice and enjoy!
**Note: You’ll need a little over 1/2 cup of dry quinoa for 2 cups cooked. Make sure to measure the quinoa for the cake recipe AFTER it is cooked and cooled. Also, make sure to cook the quinoa in water not broth.
**Update: This cake also freezes great! I sliced it and froze the individual pieces, when you want one simply sit it out at room temperature for around an hour and voila!
Source: Cake from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, icing from Hershey’s
