I posted this on Facebook the other night:

followed by this…

Dear Amazing chocolate cake I made last night,

I loved you! I made you with tons of love. I ate you with joy and beautiful company. You were even made with all healthy ingredients. But, let’s just be honest here, you have WAY too much caffeine in your luscious cocoa for my sensitive body and I can’t sleep.

Next time I make you, how about we have a breakfast date instead of a late night party, ok?

Lots of love,
Nina

P.S. You looked magnificent and everyone was talking about you 

A lot of folks asked for the recipe.

It’s actually a recipe I adapted from a recipe book Quinoa 365. This recipe is in my Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t Recipe Book.

I was inspired to make it again, because I saw a very similar recipe, adapted from the same recipe book on The Making Thyme For Health Blog. Sarah from Making Thyme for Health directed me to the luscious frosting on Oh She Glows – which I changed  slightly – details below.

It’s an easy recipe. You just need to do a few things in advance.

• Make quinoa – so it has time to cool
• Melt the coconut (or butter) – so it has time to cool
• Refrigerate the coconut milk overnight
• Refrigerate the frosting for a few hours before frosting.

 

Moist Chocolate Cake with Quinoa

(based on a recipe from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa, or 2 cups of cooked quinoa 1 1/3 cups water for cooking the quinoa
• 1/3 cup milk – almond milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1 cup coconut sugar or date sugar (coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index)
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

To make the Quinoa:

Rinse quinoa well. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan and cover. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave covered on burner for another 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

Cake:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour and line with parchment paper your cake pan.
• Combine milk eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor.
• Add 2 cups of cooked quinoa and butter or coconut oil continue to blend ’til smooth.
• Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
• Add the contents of the blender and mix well.
• Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake on a center oven rack for 40 -45 minutes or until a knife inserted in a center comes out clean.
• Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in pan.
• Frost if desired.

Frosting:

Ingredients:

• I package of chocolate chips (I use grain sweetened chocolate chips by Sunspire or stevia and erythritol sweetened chocolate chips by Lily’s Chocolate.  I like the flavor of the Lily’s a bit more, but I like the simpler ingredients of the grain sweetened chocolate chips better (they don’t have erythritol or inulin which can be digestively disruptive to some people).

What I like about both kinds of chocolate chips is that they are both low on the glycemic index. Both chocolate chip products use alternative sweeteners (not white sugar)  and so they don’t spike your blood sugar as much as refined-sugar sweetened chocolate chips too.

• 2 cans of coconut milk  – I like Native Forest because their cans are BPA free.

How to:

1. Chill 2 cans of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight so the coconut solids and the coconut water/milk separate. Scoop out the coconut solids and melt them with the chocolate chips on a very low heat. Stir until completely blended.

2. Pour the coconut/chocolate blend into a container or bowl that is big enough for easy whipping. Let the frosting chill for at least 3 hours and then use an immersion blender or an electric beater to whip up the frosting so it’s super creamy and frothy.

(For a fun variation: If you want a crazy-delicious, decadent chocolate mousse – just add a splash of Cointreau or  Grand Marnier (alcoholic liqueur) to this frosting – serve it in an elegant glass  –  no cake – and you’ve got a gourmet chocolate mousse)

Enjoy!

   ~ ~ ~ ~

Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, certified Health Coach and Psychology of Eating Coach believes that every women deserves to feel good in their own body. She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life!  She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and NourishedWomanNation.com 

She helps busy women look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t.

She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your F.R.E.E. Video Series “What to do now, when everything you’ve done hasn’t worked” by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.