let them eat cake…

I had dinner this week with a friend from Shades of Green Farm. She’s a chocoholic like me, but cannot tolerate wheat, so dessert was a GF cake I worked out. It’s tasty, the texture is good and it keeps well. Overall it is something between a brownie and a traditional cake in texture, both dense and moist. One issue I have with most GF cakes I’ve tried (apart from the amazing “flourless” varieties) is that they often seem “gummy” the second day. I kept a small piece of this one in the fridge, well wrapped, and it was just fine for breakfast.

We both liked it. Of course, chocolate cake makes me happy, with or without additional “health benefits”.

This recipe is based on a traditional “one pan no egg” cake. The quinoa flour gives it a slightly nutty flavor and helps to smooth out the slight grittiness of the rice flour. The only trick to this cake is to use a good quality cocoa for the best flavor. Also, using either lemon or orange extract instead of vanilla is quite nice.

Here’s dessert:

Gluten- and Egg-free Chocolate Cake

1 T butter for the pan

1C white rice flour + 3 T (for flouring the pan)
1/2 C quinoa flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt

6 T vegetable oil
1 T cider vinegar
1 t vanilla
1 cup cold water

1/2 C mini chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)
powdered sugar or icing (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour (using rice flour) an 8-inch square baking pan, tapping out excess flour.

Sift all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips and walnuts into a large bowl. Whisk these ingredients to blend them. Use the back of a spoon to make three evenly spaced “wells” in the dry ingredient mixture. Pour the vegetable oil into the first hole, the vinegar in the second, and the vanilla extract in the third. Pour the water carefully and as evenly as possible over the whole thing. Use a whisk to mix everything together well. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and/or chopped walnuts over the cake if desired.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake just begins to shrink from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool thoroughly in the pan. When cool, frost as desired, or simply sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Makes one 8-inch square cake.

(This could be doubled and baked in 8-inch round pans to make a layer cake.)

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