Holy Year Batman! Let's eat cake!

Wow.  It has been one whole year since I last posted. It has been so long that I can't even remember which font I sue for my posts!  Ugh. Que excuses....1st: Baby number 3 began baking and I was soooooooo sick.  Not much cooking happened. 2nd: We moved all the way across the country, then 1 more time in the same state. 3rd: baby made me sick-it's such a good excuse, so I used it twice! And don't worry, everything came out fine in the end.  We have our 3rd baby now, our 2nd little girl, and she is a cute little chunk chicky!  Now onto the cake, I saw this recipe and knew it was what was going to get me back in the swing of things.  It is a chocolate cake!  And an incredibly awesome chocolate cake!  Sooo chocolaty and moist, and just so good.  I made it for Valentine's Day and couldn't say more good things about it.  The frosting is soo good that I could probably sit and eat a whole bowl in 3 minutes.  Or 2.  There is a catch, and unexpected ingredient...Quinoa.  Yup, you heard me, Quinoa.  Not Quinoa flour, but cooked and blended quinoa!  Making this cake Gluten free!!! I found this recipe on Makingthymeforhealth and may have to frequent this site some more!!! Now go make this cake.  Seriously, like now.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup uncooked=2 cups cooked)

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or preferred milk)

4 whole eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup Earth Balance, melted (or butter)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 cup white sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whipped Chocolate Coconut Cream Frosting

1 (13.5 ounce) can of full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight

1 (10 ounce) bag chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and then line two round cake pans (or a 9x13” pan) with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor or blender, combine the eggs, almond milk (or preferred milk) and vanilla extract then blend for ten seconds to combine.

3. Add the cooked and cooled quinoa along with the melted and cooled Earth Balance and coconut oil (could also use all regular butter) then blend until completely smooth, about thirty seconds to one minute.

4. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt).

5. Add the wet ingredients in the blender to the bowl with the dry and mix together until well-combined.

6. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool.

7. To make the frosting you will need to refrigerate the coconut milk overnight (in the coldest part of your refrigerator) so that the cream separates.

8. When you are ready to make it, melt the chocolate in a sauce pan over low-medium heat. Grab the coconut milk from the refrigerator but don’t shake the can or turn it upside down before opening. Open the can and scoop out the solid parts with a spoon, placing them into the pot with the chocolate. It’s okay if it the solid parts on completely separated, just try to get as much of the thicker portions as possible. Melt the coconut cream and chocolate together then transfer to a large bowl that you can later use to whip it in. (note: if the melted chocolate/coconut milk mixture still appears really dark you can add more coconut milk to lighten it up so that the end result isn't bitter)

9. Allow to cool on the counter then cover and refrigerate for several hours, until thickened. Once it has thickened, remove from the refrigerator and beat on high for thirty seconds to one minute, until a fluffy icing has formed. 

10. Transfer the cakes to a surface for icing with the bottom side up. (Apparently these cakes are fragile, so only move them once.  I froze mine the night before, so Didn't have this issue, so be careful!  Or freeze them ;) )

11. Frost the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. The icing will melt in really warm conditions but should be fine for a few hours in cooler settings.

ENJOY YOUR INCREDIBLE CAKE!