Quinoa Avocado Chocolate Cake Recipe

Quinoa Avocado Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

Healthy quinoa chocolate cake that’s vegan, eggless and refined sugar free. If you’re cooking this quinoa cake for a sceptic just call it chocolate fudge cake. They may guess it’s gluten free as its heavier than a traditional cake but they are unlikely to guess it’s bursting with nutrition and good for you.

Iced in a thick layer of my healthy chocolate avocado frosting. It’s moist and deliciously stodgy so a small slice is very filling. Suitable for gluten-free, refined sugar-free, vegan, plant-based, paleo and general healthy diets.

Quinoa Chocolate Cake With avocado frosting, raspberries and blueberries close up

This gluten-free quinoa cake recipe has been in development for a while. I’ve been working on it since making quinoa pizza bases and chocolate avocado mousse and this is a hybrid of them together.

What can be better than a cake made from high protein quinoa and heart-healthy avocado? No oil, flour, gluten, stabilisers eggs or butter in this plant based recipe. This quinoa cake is just under half raw, so great if you are trying to eat a diet high in raw foods.

Quinoa Chocolate Avocado Cake Video Recipe

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You can grease your pan with some coconut oil if you prefer and it will give a sharper edge to the chocolate cake. As I’m filming this recipe I want to guarantee it will come out of the pan easily so used greaseproof paper for oil free healthy baking. The rough edges don’t matter as it’s being iced.

Make this a triple chocolate quinoa cake by adding a handful of chocolate chunks to the cake batter before baking.

This gluten free cake recipe uses dates as the sweetener for the base, but dates can vary in sweetness significantly. I often use very sweet fudgy dates so If you use less sweet dates or want a sweeter cake then add some maple or other syrup to the cake bases. To make without dates just use another dried fruit or natural sweetener.

Moist and healthy Quinoa Cake with chocolate and one slice taken out

The quinoa cake is gluten-free without any stabilisers it will only get a small lift in the oven. It’s a dense but moist and delicious cake. One slice contains a huge amount of nutrition from the quinoa, avocados, dates, cocoa and chia.

Soaking the quinoa is needed to make the seed easier for the body to absorb and easier to blend totally smooth. When you soak the seeds they start to grow and it’s said the vitamins and minerals are more bio-available.

inside of a chocoalte quinoa cake with two layers and chocolate avocado frosting

When blending the healthy quinoa cake batter you will probably want to do it in two batches if you have a small blender. The quinoa and dates are hard so you don’t want to be putting too much stress on your blender as it may cause damage.

Even if you are using pitted dates do still check that no stones are left in as even just a fragment can ruin the whole cake. A 600w small jug bullet type blender is powerful enough to make this cake made from whole quinoa.

Most quinoa is pre-rinsed in the UK so you don’t get a bitter taste. If the quinoa you use can sometimes be bitter do rinse the quinoa grain thoroughly before blending to remove any quinoa bitterness.

Vegan Healthy Quinoa Chocolate Cake - flour and egg free with a chocolate avocado frosting #vegan #healthy #healthycake #veganrecipe #quinoa

Yield: 8 Servings

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

Quinoa Avocado Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

Gluten free and vegan cake made from whole quinoa and frosted with chocolate avocado. Naturally grain and egg free that's easy to make. Full of plant protein, fibre, heart healthy fats and nutrition.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

  • 1½ cups / 250g Quinoa
  • 2 cups / 450ml Water
  • 1 cup / 175g Dates, pitted
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 4 tbsp Cocoa or Cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp Chia seeds
  • a pinch of Salt
  • optional, 2-4 tbsp Sweetener such as Maple, Coconut or Date syrup

Avocado Chocolate Frosting

  • 2 Avocados
  • 4-6 tbsp Sweetener such as Maple, Coconut or Date syrup
  • 2 tbsp Coconut oil or Coconut Butter
  • 4 tbsp Cacao or Cocoa powder

Instructions

  1. Soak the quinoa for at least 15 mins in enough water to cover, then drain and discard the soaking water. Soaking for an hour or overnight is preferable.
  2. Add everything else for the batter into the blender and blend until smooth.
  3. Split into two lined 6″ pans and bake the quinoa cake for 35-45 mins at 180 C / 350 F.
  4. You can tell when the gluten free cake is cooked when a knife comes out clean.
  5. Leave to cool for 10 mins before taking out of the pan.
  6. Blend all of the chocolate avocado frosting ingredients together.
  7. Ice the top of one quinoa chocolate cake, place the other cake on then ice the top and sides.
  8. Decorate with berries, store in the fridge and enjoy within 3 days.

Notes

This gluten free and egg free quinoa cake isn't as light and fluffy as a normal cake with wheat and eggs but it still tastes amazing. A smaller slice is very filling and contains more nutrition than many people on a standard diet have in a day.

Use fruit for decoration, any bright berries are good – raspberries, Inca or strawberries are my go-to fruit that look and taste amazing on this cake. Also chunks of dark chocolate or cacao nibs work great on this quinoa cake to give a deep rich chocolate flavour.

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Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 271Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 2mgSodium 106mgCarbohydrates 36gFiber 6gSugar 21gProtein 3g

You can use either cacao or cocoa to make this gluten-free cake, both are nutritious and considering the price cocoa is often the better choice. More on the difference between cacao and cocoa.

Try a tiny bit of the cake before icing and if it’s too bitter for your taste add some extra sweetener to the icing or brush on top.

As the quinoa is soaked this chocolate quinoa cake is paleo friendly.

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123 thoughts on “Quinoa Avocado Chocolate Cake”

  1. Just looking for a clarification on the nutritional information. Is the information posted per serving( slice) or for the whole cake. Looking for the carbs per serving. Thanks

    1. It’s per serving, my recipes are high nutrition so that they aren’t empty calories. You can import this recipe into myfitness pal or similar for more nutritional information 🙂

  2. If i want it to
    Import to myfitnesspal
    Do I have to put all the ingredients one by one?
    What is the weight of one piece and the nutriotion of it? I cant find it.
    Thank you
    Looks amazing

  3. Thanks for sharing!

    So just to clarify, you don’t cook the quinoa, you just soak it?

    How do you think this would be with some peanut butter powder added to the icing?

    1. You’re welcome, glad you like the idea of this cake! The cooking is done in the oven, so no need to boil and the soaking makes it able to cook the quinoa in the oven.

    1. It might do, but will need to adjust the water amounts. I always make it with dry so it can be soaked and is easy to make

  4. Hello! I bake cakes for my friends and also customers but Im trying real hard not to eat my own because i’m trying to cut down my calories. I followed the Mealprepking on instagram and saw that this recipe is from you and I’m soooo grateful I found one that is guilt free for me. I’d definitely try this one! Thank you soo much ????????

  5. I think I just messed up the entire cake. ???? I soaked the quinoa in the two cups of water (listed with ingredients) then used that to blend in with the other ingredients. Then I watched the video and it showed what looked like soaked quinoa and two cups of water added separately to the blender. Must I scrap this cake and start over?

    1. No I think it will turn out fine, just might be a bit less moist. Never bin as it will probably still taste great. Let me know how it turns out, I’ve cooked it with less water (which is effectively what you’ve done) and it’s still good. I’ll look into the recipe now to check it reads correctly.

        1. I would say this cake would be around the right amount if most people wanted a second slice. Check the video for an idea on the size in relation to hand size 🙂

  6. This sounds so easy! Would it work just as well as muffins? Thinking to add chocolate chips to the batter and cook it in a muffin tin.

    1. Bastian Durward

      Hi there, yes works great as quinoa chocolate muffins. Just adjust the times to 5-8 mins less and it will be great!

    1. Bastian Durward

      It can, but as it’s a bit heavy I do find it works better as two. Can bake as one (will take 5-10mins longer) then slice in the middle if you prefer

  7. How long does the icing last? I am afraid we will need to eat it right away. Was going to use this icing for another type of cake. Thank you! Great recipe idea.

    1. Bastian Durward

      Hi there, it lasts for about 3 days chilled. Just because its fresh avocado in the chocolate avocado frosting so doesn’t have a long shelf life

  8. Hello, I ve read in many places that you should wash the quinoa before soaking it… If not can be very toxic… What you think about it ?

    1. Bastian Durward

      Hi there, not sure about it being toxic but it can be bitter. The quinoa we get in the UK is pre-washed and for recipes like this it’s soaked and rinsed so it’s not an issue. I’ve bought quinoa before in Peru and that did need to be washed – you could tell from the taste as was bitter. Hope that helps, let me know if you try this quinoa cake recipe!

    1. Bastian Durward

      You sure could, but do adjust to your tastes – it’s not something I use that much myself and so many different forms it comes in so difficult to advise on that.

  9. I am planning on making this cake for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. The video says to use two 8” cake pans but the printed recipe says two 6” cake pans. Which one is it? Thanks!

    1. It was actually a 6″ used in the video and I made a mistake, but honestly either work fine – the times do often need a bit of adjusting as its a natural produce recipe

  10. Hi there, this cake came out extremely wet and did not cook to a solid form. It just boiled in the pan. Did I do something wrong?

    1. Bastian Durward

      Hi there, it sounds like something went wrong. Maybe too much water? Check out the video above, was your batter a similar consistency before baking?

  11. Hello! I’m hoping to substitute white bean aquafaba instead of chia or flax seeds. Do you have any recommendation for this? My understanding is that 3 tbsp of aquafaba = 1 egg…do you know how many “eggs” your recipe needs?

    1. Hi there, I’ve never made this quinoa chocolate cake with aquafaba but I think 6-9 tbsp sounds about right. Let me know how you get on!

  12. Ashleigh L Oliveira

    I’m so excited to make this!

    Is the water in the ingredients supposed to be blended in with everything or is that just the soaking water of the quinoa?

    1. Hi there, the water listed is the fresh water to be added after the quinoa has been soaked. I don’t list the soaking water in the ingredients. Hope that helps

    1. Hi there, possibly with a quite thick nib as it’s like a thick dip. I would add less liquid sweeteners and something like ground coconut sugar to make it firmer. With coconut butter it does set quite firm – the issue is piping it on at the right time when it’s firming up. Let me know how your get on

  13. I made this recipe for the first time. I am not too huge of a fan due to the earthy flavor of the quinoa. When I started assembling the cake, I thought I might have over cooked the layers because they felt dry. I thought I ruined the cake. I assembled and put on the frosting and let it sit in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. I put a design on the top with decorating sugar and really liked that added crunch to the cake. The cake turned out to be moist and fudgy like! If I were to be served a piece of this cake, I would eat it, but just not a huge fan due to the flavor. I do like how this recipe is healthy!

    1. AH glad it worked out well, ignoring the taste. Was it the earthy quinoa flavour you didn’t like? I would add more cacao to mask it if that was the issue.

  14. hello! I’ve noticed you use often dates in your recipes. I cannot eat dry fruit. can I substitute it with something else? maybe coconut oil and maple syrup? if so, how much?
    thanks in advance

    1. Hi there, I use dates or dried fruit alot as it contains the fibre as well as the sweetness. I would just replace with banana and maple syrup. The right amount depends on the recipe but at a guess 1 banana for every half a cup of dates and 3-4 tbsp of maple syrup. No need for coconut oil as the dates don’t really have much fat

  15. Hi. Interested in using this frosting on my son’s 1st birthday smash cake. 1) Could I substitute coconut butter with Ghee( clarified butter)? If not, how about unsalted butter? And how much please?

    2) Any fruit substitute for sweetness? Say may be, ripe bananas? If not, absolutely any other combo possible? Applesauce?
    Apologies if it sounds too weird of a tweaking!

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