Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Ingredients

• Cake Ingredients:
• 2 cups cooked quinoa loosely packed
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 eggs -NB Vegan option below
• *Vegan option -to make a flax egg, you need to whisk together 1 tbsp of flax meal and 2-3 tbsp of water per egg substitution – so for this recipe blend the 4 tbsp of flax seed with 12 tbsp of water – whisk then add straight into our cake batter for the same result.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup butter melted and slightly cooled – Vegan option – add 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 1/2 cups demerara/unrefined brown sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Frosting Ingredients:
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or 180C . Grease two round cake tin (or a 9 x 13 ) -line the bottom of each tin with parchment. (Do not skip the parchment if you want to flip the cake out of the cake tin.)
2. Combine the milk, eggs /flax substitute and vanilla in the food processor/blender and pulse a few times to combine. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter/oil and puree until completely smooth, making sure everything is well mixed. The result will be a thick and creamy consistency once the quinoa is pureed. (and you should not be able to see any little beads of quinoa in the pureed mixture.) Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the contents from the blender. Stir until well combined.
3. To make a flax egg, follow the suggestion above (*whisk together 4 tbsp of flax meal and 12 tbsp of water ).
4. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake on a center oven rack for 28-30 minutes. Test with a skewer until it comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before inverting them onto a wire cooling rack. Peel off the parchment and let the cakes cool completely before frosting.
5. Place the organic chocolate chips in a medium size glass bowl. Heat the cream in a medium saucepan until is gently simmers. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes or so and then whisk to combine until it is smooth and glossy. Place in the fridge and cool completely. (2-3 hours or about an hour in the freezer.) Once chilled. Use a mixer to whip the chocolate cream into soft peaks.
6. Place one cake layer upside down on a plate. Scoop half the frosting onto that layer and gently spread it across almost to the edge. Place the other layer on top of the frosting and top with the remaining frosting. You can frost the sides if you like, I chose to leave mine simple. Chill 2-3 hours before serving to allow the frosting to set. Enjoy!