Prize-winning Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Edited to add: This cake won the Earlsfield Bake-Off!

This cake sounds weird but tastes yummy.  No one knew it had quinoa in it.  I made it as cupcakes, but forgot to take a picture.  Annoyingly it is an american recipe using cups.

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

2 cups cooked quinoa
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 160F and grease two 23 cm round cake pans; line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper – this cake is very moist, and it will make removing them much safer.

In a food processor, combine the milk, eggs and vanilla; add the cooked quinoa and the melted butter and blend until smooth.  Add the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt and pulse until well blended.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pans before running a thin knife around the edges and inverting them onto plates.

(recipe from Dinner with Julie)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This recipe is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's, and has been made countless times by the Coleman family.  It is brilliant plain, but you can also add things to it.  Raspberries are good in the summer, or this time round I soaked some chopped up prunes in armagnac, which was awesome!

250g dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids), broken into chunks
250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
4 medium eggs, separated
200g caster sugar (or 100g caster mixed with 100g soft light brown sugar)
50g plain flour
50g ground almonds

Preheat the oven to 160C and grease and line a 23cm springform tin

Melt the chocolate and butter together.

Beat the sugar and eggs yolks together, then add the chocolate and butter and the flour and almonds.

Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then fold into the chocolate mixture.

Add fruit if desired, then pour into the tin and bake for c. 35 mins until it still just wobbles in the centre.  Leave to cool in the tin.

Delicious with cream.

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