Gone are the days (when you have no kids!) when on my way back from work, I would see McDonald’s, drive through the drive through and pick myself a big burger with the side of french fries and glass of soda.
When you have a family and kids to take care of, you sort of start taking care of your own health, in addition to make sure that your kids are eating healthy. You need to stay healthy for them.
I love being in the kitchen and trying out my (healthy) recipes. Since we are a vegetarian family, I have make sure that my son consumes enough nutrition. Protein and iron rich food is so important for a growing child.
When I decided to make this Quinoa cake, I was thrilled to use quinoa because this super grain is one of the most protein rich food we can eat. Not only that, it contains high amount of fiber, iron and magnesium. All very essential elements required for a healthy and fit body.
This recipe contains honey instead of sugar. Honey is known to have anti bacterial and anti fungal properties. Olive Oil is another major ingredient in this recipe. I love to use as much olive oil in my recipes as possible because it is one of the healthiest fat available to us. It strengthens the immune system, keeping the obesity levels and cholesterol levels low.
I recently baked these Spinach Muffins, and they were a hit at my work potluck. My 3 year old kiddo loves them and always asks for more “Green Muffins”. Well, he had the same reaction to this quinoa cake. Of course, it didn’t come right the first time
Next time, I made some modifications to change ingredients ratio to our taste and skipped almond extract altogether. It came out just perfect! I couldn’t believe I made a yummy Quinoa Cake.
Alright, enough of my bragging. Let’s get to the recipe, folks!
Healthy Quinoa Cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 1/2 cup Cooked Quinoa
- 1/4 cup Buttermilk I used homemade
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/8 Salt
- 1/6 cup Olive Oil
- 1 large Egg
- 1/2 Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 cup Ground Almonds
- 1/2 cup Raisins
Instructions
- Start with cooking quinoa. Take 1/6 cup quinoa and rinse it thoroughly in a fine mesh sieve. I always soak quinoa in a dish for a few minutes before rinsing. This removes a natural coating on quinoa that is bitter in taste.
- Place the quinoa is a cooking pan, add 3 times the water. Bring to boil. Keep the heat to low and let it cook for about 15 minutes or until it is fully cooked. After removing from the heat, let it sit for another 5 min and fluff it with a fork.
- Preheat to 350 degree. Grease the 8x3 inch pan.
- In a mixing bowl, bring together whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- To this mix, add olive oil, honey.
- Add buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract. Mix well with rubber spatula until combined.
- Fold in the ground almonds.
- Stir in the quinoa and then stir in the raisins.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean but moist.
- For syrup: Bring the honey to a gentle boil in a small saucepan then remove from heat.
- After poking the holes with toothpick, slowly pour the syrup over the cake while it is still warm. Using the back of a spoon, prevent it from rushing to the edges. Let the cake sit a few minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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