chocolate

Sep 12

Keen on Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Quinoa in container.

 

You know the saying “everything old is new again?”  It appears that ancient grains fit into this category.  Whole grain fever is going mainstream. Now unlike lava lamps and avocado green appliances, ancient grains are here to stay I do believe. 

 

Raw quinoa.

 

Especially now that they have been made into a chocolate cake.  What a clever public relations campaign quinoa has got going for itself.  I mean a quinoa salad made with lots of vegetables and a tangy vinaigrette is certainly appealing, but let’s be honest with ourselves.  Salad?  Chocolate Cake?  Salad?  Chocolate Cake?  My money is on the cake.

This neat-o Moist Chocolate Cake recipe is from  Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming, which has been out since February.  Using the food processor for the wet ingredients was unusual but handy.  Plus I was excited to try out some of the “alternative” ingredients I’d picked up during a recent Bulk Barn buying frenzy.  It was my first time in there and I went a little nuts with all the cool stuff they stock.

First thing was the organic cane sugar.  It reminded me a bit of sponge toffee all ground up.  Very pleasant molasses-ey aroma.  Wonder what the calories are compared to regular white sugar?  Or do we care?  I suppose though at the very least it is less refined and that is something my cholesterol-challenged body is hankering for lately.

 

Organic cane sugar measured and ready to go.

 

Doesn’t this cane sugar have a beautiful earthy colour?  I feel healthier already.  Even more exciting though was the quinoa.  Here it is after a good whipping in the processor.   Naughty quinoa!

 

Quinoa wet ingredients.

 

Preparing the quinoa earlier in the day was a snap which meant that I could get to the chocolate part sooner.  Mmmmm…..chocolate….

 Cake batter for chocolate quinoa cake.

 Here is quinoa – now married to chocolate.  Looks like a totally respectable chocolate cake batter don’t you think?

 

 A slice of chocolate quinoa cake, iced and ready to eat.

 

Hmmm…  Looks like some sort of nasty cake accident. Butter icing (it was all I had – honest!) oozing out between the cake layers is a bit raggy-looking I agree.  Let’s just call it rustic.

 

Slice of chocolate quinoa cake.

 

Looks a little better from this side.  Doesn’t it?

Okay, I have accepted the fact long ago that I’m not the most talented cake decorator - but you know what? 

What matters is that we just get in the kitchen and bake -  that people enjoy eating our creations, however rustic they turn out.  It’s the baking journey, not the destination right? 

 

Chocolate quinoa cake with a bite out of it.

Yum.

P.S. By the way, the cake was moist with a deep chocolate flavour.  Had a great crumb and texture – not chewy at all.  Next time, no butter icing, just a quick sprinkling of icing sugar. Promise.

Aug 9

Whole wheat and chocolate get friendly

WW choc chippers from Good to the Grain

Whole wheat and chocolate.

Who knew?

They aren’t such an odd couple after all.  And this isn’t a wimpy half whole wheat, half white flour combo either.  It’s full out whole wheat flour with its “yeah, I’m healthy, you got a problem with that?” attitude paired with the mystery of dark chocolate chopped into jagged “you’re not hoggin’ the spotlight whole wheat” chunks.

In other words they were good.  Crispy on the outer edges, wonderfully chewy in the center.  Earthiness from the whole wheat, just enough bite from the bittersweet chocolate, a depth of sweetness from the dark brown sugar, all tempered by a little bit of kosher salt that hits the tongue every few bites. 

I felt rather virtuous as I nibbled away on one in between sips of my 4 pm tea.  Although I should know not to get carried away.  I haven’t done a nutritional analysis on the cookies as that would be just plain no fun.  I’m not blind to the saturated fat and cholesterol implications.  But it’s a grey and rainy day and I’m cozy inside and the house smells wonderful so I don’t much care.

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookie missing a bite and showing its chocolate chunk.

No matter what, they have to be higher up on the virtue scale than the two and a half pieces of white cake with some sort of marshmallowy icing I devoured yesterday at an anniversary gathering.   What can I say?  It’s that storebought white cake thing again.

So back to this happy couple – whole wheat and chocolate.  One thing that I found pleasingly interesting is that these cookies are more filling, perhaps even more satisfying than their white trash cousins.  Usually I can throw back 4 or more whole grain-free chocolate chip cookies…easily.  Granted I did make these a bit larger than I usually do as instructed in the recipe. But still.  The whole wheat is totally a bonus.

Miss Ellie lets her sugar addiction show.

Now if only there was something that would put a damper on Elly’s sweet tooth. Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies beware.

Come back and visit again.  Next week (or maybe even this weekend) I’ll be waxing poetic about anniversaries, love and all that sort of muck.  The best part is I’ll be baking a bona fide Red Velvet Cake from Southern Cakes written by my friend Nancy McDermott.  Bliss.