A friend, Sandi, from Overland Park, Kansas, sent these quinoa cakes for Passover. She isn’t sure where she got them, but those who use quinoa often should find them interesting for Passover.
Quinoa, the grain-like seed grown in South America, is Kosher for Passover when processed with special OU Passover supervision and bearing the OU-P symbol.
Chocolate Quinoa Cake
Serves 12
Cake
- 3/4 cup quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups water
- cooking spray
- 2 tablespoons potato starch
- 1/3 cup orange juice (from 1 orange)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (or other vanilla if for Passover)
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons (kosher for Passover) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- Fresh raspberries, for garnish (optional)
Glaze (optional)
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 1 tablespoon sunflower or safflower oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or other vanilla if for Passover)
Place the quinoa and water into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan and cook the quinoa for 15 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Set the pan aside. The quinoa may be made 1 day in advance.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Use cooking spray to grease a 12-cup bundt pan. Sprinkle the potato starch over the greased pan and then shake the pan to remove any excess starch.
Place the quinoa in the bowl of a food processor. Add the orange juice, eggs, vanilla, oil, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt and process until the mixture is very smooth.
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, or place in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and put in a microwave for 45 seconds, stirring and then heating the chocolate for another 30 seconds, until it is melted. Add the chocolate to the quinoa batter and process until well mixed. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake it for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes and then remove it gently from the pan. Let it cool on a wire cooling rack.
To make the glaze, melt the chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl in the microwave or in a pan over a double boiler. Add the oil and vanilla and whisk well. Let the glaze sit for 5 minutes and then whisk it again. Use a silicone spatula to spread the glaze all over the cake.
Lemon Quinoa Cake
Serves 12
Cake
- 3/4 cup quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Cooking spray or 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from 2-3 large lemons
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice from 2-3 large lemons
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or other vanilla if for Passover)
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour, plus 2-3 tablespoon to dust bundt pan
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (kosher for Passover)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (kosher for Passover)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)
Place the quinoa and water into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan, and cook the quinoa for 15 to 18 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Let sit for 5 minutes off the stovetop. The quinoa may be made 2 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Use cooking spray or oil to grease a 12-cup bundt pan. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons coconut flour, or more if needed, over the entire greased pan, shake the pan all around to cover and then tap out the excess.
Place the quinoa in the bowl of a food processor. Add the lemon zest and juice, eggs, vanilla, oil, sugar, almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and process until the mixture is very smooth, about 2 minutes.
Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake it for 1 hour, or longer, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for 30 minutes and then remove it gently from the pan onto a wire cooling rack.
To make the glaze, place the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk well. Add more juice, a teaspoon at a time, until you have a thick glaze. Drizzle or pour over the cake.
Sybil Kaplan is a Jerusalem-based journalist, author and compiler/editor of 9 kosher cookbooks. She is a food writer for North American Jewish publications, and she leads walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.
