Chocolate And Cherry Cake

This is a super moist cake that combines the classics of chocolate and cherry without any gluten or dairy!

I realise that adding cooked quinoa might seem very odd but it really does help here to keep the shape and certainly adds its own nuttiness.

I tend to cook a bigger quantity of quinoa, using some for a salad and reserving some for this cake.

I didn’t ice this cake as it’s for the school lunch boxes, just a little icing sugar over the top.

Ingredients

100g quinoa

250mls water

4 eggs, seperated

150g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

100g ground almonds

2x 415g tins cherries, drained and patted dry

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade. Grease and line a 24cm ring cake tin.

Pour the quinoa into a pan, add the water, cover with a lid and bring up to the boil and simmer, covered for 13-15 minutes. Leaving the lid on, allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes and then allow to cool.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Fold in the vanilla and cocoa followed by the cooked quinoa and ground almonds.

With clean beaters, beat the egg whites until forming stiff peaks.

Gently fold a couple of tablespoons of egg white into the yolk mix, then gradually fold in the remaining egg white in three or four stages.

Sprinkle one third of the cherries over the base of the prepared tin.

Spoon over half of the cake batter, spreading it out gently.

Top with a third of the cherries again and the remaining cake batter. Sprinkle over the last cherries and pop into the oven.

Bake for 45 minutes until the edges of the cake are coming away from the pan.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then tip onto a baking rack to cool completely.

Red Quinoa With Garlic Mushrooms And Broccolini

I am a huge fan of quinoa at the best of times but add some seriously garlicky mushrooms and broccolini and I think that you have one of my favourite flavour combinations!

Serves 6. Leftovers are fantastic in wraps the following day.

Ingredients

1 cup dry red quinoa

2 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

225g mushrooms, quartered

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

400g broccolini, washed and cut into 3-5cm chunks

1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

2 spring onions, topped and tailed and finely sliced

salt and pepper

Method

Wash the quinoa in cold water, drain well and add to the pan with the water, cover and  bring up to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 30minutes. Leave to sit for 10minutes before removing the lid.

In a wok or large frying pan, heat the oil over a low heat and add the garlic, once fragrant, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, try not to let the garlic burn!

Set the mushrooms and garlic aside in a large bowl, add the broccolini stalks to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until bright green, add the rest of the broccolini, chilli and the the spring onions and stir fry gently for 2-3 minutes.

Add the broccolini and quinoa to the mushrooms and mix well. Season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Carrot and Red Quinoa Cake

Ok, a bit odd but bare with me!

Gluten free baking has its challenges and making a cake rise and stay risen is one of them.

Enter quinoa, a bit like beetroot brownies the bulk of the carrots and quinoa keep the cake well risen and the quinoa adds a slight crunch which I rather like.

This is the single layer version of the cake, I made it for the lunch boxes so no icing but if you want a multi layer gluten free cake this is the one to use, moist, a little crumbly and lovely with cream cheese icing!

Serves 8.

Ingredients

3 eggs

120g brown sugar

100mls oil

150g grated carrot

90g cooked quinoa, I use red quinoa but regular works well too

40g coconut flour

60g buckwheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade, grease and line the base of a 23cm spring form tin.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until very light and creamy.

Slowly fold in the oil followed by the remaining ingredients.

Spoon into the tin and smooth.

Bake for 30-35mins, allow to cool a little in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Sprinkle a little caster or icing sugar over the top to serve.