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The Chocolate Quinoa Cake has the texture of a traditional cake, yet no special flours are required. This is pure, sweet Chocolate Cake.
This cake has blown my mind. Just writing about it here makes me grin as I think about how perfectly moist, rich, and chocolatey it is.
Quinoa Chocolate Cake
When I first saw this recipe, I did a double-take because I had never before run across anything quite like it. A flourless chocolate cake made with quinoa?
I first heard about a Quinoa Chocolate Cake over at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe almost 10 years ago. The recipe is originally from Quinoa 365 and even if you think you hate quinoa, my friends, this cake is going to change your mind. I say that without any doubt at all.
I make a Flourless Chocolate Cake at least a couple of times a year and it is one of my favorite recipes. The Chocolate Quinoa Cake, on the other hand, has the texture of a traditional cake, yet with no special flours required.
All you need is a couple of scoops of cooked quinoa. While I was initially very skeptical, I assure you that you absolutely positively can NOT taste the quinoa in this recipe.
Chocolate Quinoa Cake
This cake wowed both my family and our dinner guests who are accustomed to eating traditional sweets. Even knowing that the cake was made from quinoa, I couldn’t detect an odd taste or texture.
(And you know just how fussy I am about GF desserts and any odds textures or smells – some of those gluten-free flours are pretty bad!)
You don’t have to take my word for it either. There are dozens of 5 star reviews of this recipe at the bottom of this post.
This Quinoa Chocolate Cake has become a go-to dessert for many people who don’t normally cook or bake gluten-free, but enjoy being able to surprise friends with a gluten-free option without having to keep specialty flours and starches on hand.
This, my friends, is pure, sweet, and tender chocolate cake. After eating a slice the next day for breakfast, I sent the rest of it to the office with my husband. This is a very dangerous cake.
Kitchen Tip: I use this blender or this food processor to make this recipe.
Quinoa Chocolate Cake Recipe
Cake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two round cake pans (or a 9×13 pan) and then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment. (Do not skip the parchment if you want to be able to flip the cake out of the pan.)
- Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in the blender or food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter and puree until completely smooth.
- Stop the machine as needed to scrape the sides and make sure everything is well mixed. This will be a thick and creamy consistency once the quinoa is pureed. (You should not 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.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake on a center oven rack for 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted 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.
Frosting Instructions
- Place the 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.
- Refrigerate and let cool completely. (2-3 hours in the refrigerator or about an hour in the freezer.) When fully chilled. use a mixer to whip the chocolate cream into soft peaks.
- 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. Chill 2-3 hours before serving to allow the frosting to set. Enjoy!
This recipe has been so popular as a gluten-free option that requires no special ingredients. I’ve gathered up a collection of 15 easy, inexpensive Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes that Require No Special Ingredients.
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Check out the full collection of Gluten Free Baking Recipes on this website!
Unforgettable Chocolate Quinoa Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked quinoa loosely packed
- ⅓ cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1½ cups white sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Frosting Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
Instructions
Cake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two round cake pans (or a 9×13 pan) and then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment. (Do not skip the parchment if you want to be able to flip the cake out of the pan.)
- Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in the blender or food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter and puree until completely smooth.
- Stop the machine as needed to scrape the sides and make sure everything is well mixed. This will be a thick and creamy consistency once the quinoa is pureed. (You should not 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.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake on a center oven rack for 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted 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.
Frosting Instructions
- Place the 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.
- Refrigerate and let cool completely. (2-3 hours in the refrigerator or about an hour in the freezer.) When fully chilled. use a mixer to whip the chocolate cream into soft peaks.
- 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. Chill 2-3 hours before serving to allow the frosting to set. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 8/28/13 – recipe notes updated 8/4/22}
Smells amazing! I used a 9×13 glass pan, and am finding that 30 minutes was not long enough. I’m now at 55 minutes and still not testing done!
I haven’t had to wait quite that long for this recipe before, but cooking times may vary depending on your oven. I hope you love the cake; happy baking!
Thanks, it did finally test done, more than an hour, so not sure what happened…. It did not rise very high but was rich and moist and delicious all the same!
Glass dishes typically require an increase of 25° in baking temperature. Hope this helps!
I just made this cake. Took about 2 hours in a 9×13 pan. Came out more like brownies. I actually like that more. I added 79% cocao chips to the batter. It was really good. We will continue making it with the added cocoa chocolate chips.
We also used the 70% cocoa chocolate chips for the frosting. It was a really good brownie cake.
I’m glad you like the cake. It’s a very moist, dense cake for certain!
Made this Quinoa Chocolate Cake while my daughter was visiting and we both were very so surprised that this gluten free quinoa chocolate cake was so delicious. I have made other gluten free cakes and they were not worth the time to make again. But This One is Going To Be added To My Gluten Free Recipes, as it is Amazingly out Of This World For Flavor, Texture and Easy To Make. I am so delighted to have found this website which has so many gluten free alternative recipes. Thank you so much for having great gluten free recipes. I will definitely be trying more of your gluten free recipes and telling my gluten free friends about your excellent site. Thank You
You’re welcome, Diane. I’m glad this cake’s become a favorite.
I am wondering…do you use the white or red quinoa for the cake? Have you tried both, and if so, I’m wondering about the flavor difference. Thank you!
I’ve only used white quinoa. I’m unfamiliar with the differences between the two, so couldn’t say how the other might work.
Well, I’ll be. Gluten-free cake that actually tastes like a traditional chocolate cake. This is impressive. I did overcook mine just a little bit but other than that – perfect.
I’m so glad you like it!
My daughter is gluten-free. she loves cake but she couldn’t find one she liked. I cook; I don’t bake but I wanted to surprise my daughter; found this recipe. I made it for her birthday a couple of years ago. She was not only surprise, I baked, she loved the cake. She has made this recipe several times. She’s taken it to work for almost everyone’s birthday. Everybody raves about the cake ……and the fact it’s gluten-free. My daughter was very grateful and told me she was impressed. So thank you for making me look so good to my daughter. I love the cake too !
I’m thrilled the cake is a hit, Cindy.
I don’t normally leave reviews, but this was phenomenal. It is rich, fudgy, but retains a bit of a spring and spongy texture. It came out of the pans beautifully and resembled the texture of a “normal” (gluten) cake. My mom is a pastry chef and I am very picky, but this is a 10/10 on the cake. I used red quinoa and you couldn’t even tell that it was in there. Next time I will adjust the frosting recipe to try 1 1/2 choco chips with 1 1/2 cream, I just found that it didn’t have enough chocolate/flavor and the cream needed to be stabilized. Even with being out of the fridge for 15 min, it was melting off, and it had reached a stiff peak perfectly. I will also use higher quality choco chips or proper melting chips.
Definitely coming back to this!
I’m thrilled it was a hit!
One word: delicious. The only hassle was having to google the conversion for each ingredient to grams hahahah. Do you know if it is freezable without the icing? Thanks
This cake should freeze nicely. I’m glad you like it!
It’s been awhile since I made this and have to say it was delisious. I have learned that I have heritity high cholestrol. I’m wondery if anyone has made this with “heart healthy” oil? If so which oil and pro’s and cons.
Thank You
I haven’t tried this with a different oil, but I’m guessing it will work fine.
First time I made this cake everything seemed to work out great and it was delicious. Today I tried again, but I couldn’t get the cooked quinoa beads to be absorbed. I made this batter twice measuring everything exactly correctly. The second batch I warmed everything up to room temperature, but that didn’t seem to help either both batches just came out sloppy and full of beads, I’m waiting to see what the cooked version will look like. Any ideas on how to mix properly? I don’t know what I did wrong. Kept mixing in the KitchenAid too for about 20 minutes that didn’t help either.
The Kitchenaid mixer won’t help with pureeing the quinoa. Did you follow this step in the recipe this time?
“Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in the blender or food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter and puree until completely smooth. Stop the machine as needed to scrape the sides and make sure everything is well mixed. This will be a thick and creamy consistency once the quinoa is pureed. (You should not see any little beads of quinoa in the pureed mixture.)”
What is the best way to cook the quinoa for this cake so that it is not too wet ?
This is how I cook quinoa, Anne: https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/how-to-cook-quinoa-recipe/
This cake is hands down delicious. Not “delicious for gluten free”. Just a rich, delicious chocolate cake that happens to be gluten free and high protein.
YAY! I’m so glad you like it!
Amazing recipe! Have you tried using this recipe for cupcake / muffins?
This will work for cupcakes too. If you have a silicone tray that you can grease well, that’s my recommendation. We’ve found that the cake does stick more to paper liners than traditional cake does. However, you can lightly spray the paper liners and that may help too.
I’ve making this for years. It’s perfect just as written.
I’m so very happy to hear that!
I plan to make this for company this week.
What size round cake pans? 8” or 9”?
Thank you!
Either size will work, the 8″ pans may require an extra minute or two. Just test for doneness. Happy baking!
Wow, this quinoa cake pleasantly surprised me. Great way to use leftover quinoa for a nice gluten-free chocolatey treat. The texture is more similar to a brownie than a typical cake; it is quite dense and rich, which is fine by me. I’ll make it again!
My modifications:
1 – used slightly less sugar
2- used half melted butter and half avocado oil (didn’t have enough butter on hand)
3 – served with homemade mulberry jam instead of chocolate frosting
4 – (not technically a modification) halved the recipe because I only have one round pan, lol
I’m glad you liked it and that the adaptations worked our so well! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, Catherine.