Steamed quinoa cake is not the regular soft, spongy cake; it’s dense. Blend the batter and stem with nuts – it is that easy to prepare. If you don’t like the dark brown color, avoid caramelizing the sugar and use white sugar.
Grinding the quinoa with the batter tastes a little bitter. Adding cooked rice will be the better choice. My bitter taste would have been from caramelizing the sugar too.
Table of Contents
Food for the thought
“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.”
― Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
Benefits of the ingredients (source)
Some of the evidence-based health benefits from the studies show that
Quinoa flour: It is gluten-free and packed with nutrients like protein, zinc, fiber, and folate, as well as antioxidants.
Coconut milk is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. In addition, it acts as a skin cleanser and anti-aging.
Video
If you are interested in the video of the quinoa flour cake, do check out this.
Steps for preparing steamed quinoa cake
- Caramelizing the sugar
- Fry the nuts.
- Add the quinoa flour, brown sugar, cooked quinoa, salt, caramelized syrup, coconut milk, and vanilla extract, and blend it in the blender.
- Pour into the hot pan and steam for 15 minutes.
Variations
Quinoa flour: Quinoa flour is a gluten-free flour. To replace quinoa flour, I will use rice flour.
Sugar: I have used brown sugar and caramelized white sugar to get brown color. You can use white sugar and get a pure white steamed cake.
Cooked quinoa: Cooked quinoa makes the steamed cake soft. The alternative for the cooked quinoa would be cooked rice.
Coconut milk: I have diluted the thick coconut milk with water. You can use plain water too.
Related recipes
FAQ about quinoa cake
Can we make quinoa flour at home?
I prefer store-bought quinoa flour. I have never tried preparing quinoa flour at home. If you can grind to a fine powder, use homemade quinoa flour.
Can I use white sugar?
Absolutely. If you are using white sugar, your cakes will look white. It is always your choice.
Should I caramelize the sugar?
Not necessarily. Carmelizing sugar gives a darker color. If you don’t prefer brown, skip this process. While caramelizing the sugar, make sure to keep stirring it. If the sugar is burnt, you will get a bitter taste. If not sure, use plain sugar.
Can I use different milk in place of coconut milk?
Coconut milk brings flavor to the steamed cake. Nut milk will get the texture to the cake. Alternatively, coconut milk brings flavors and tastes to the cake.
Why should I add cooked quinoa?
Cooked quinoa brings a soft texture to the steamed cake. Grinding the cooked quinoa brings a light bitter taste to the cake.
What are the other options for adding cooked quinoa?
Rather than adding cooked quinoa, I would love to add cooked rice with a soft texture to the cake.
Should I bake or steam the cake?
This is not the regular soft spongy cake. Unfortunately, you cannot bake this cake; you have to steam this cake.
How can I steam the cake?
You can steam the quinoa cake using a steamer pot or the instant pot. I used an Instant Pot to cook the cake.
Meal prep/ How to store Quinoa flour cake
After the cake is prepared, allow it to cool, transfer it to the freezer safety bags/boxes, and freeze them for three months. After that, you can refrigerate them for a week. To warm, microwave for 30 seconds or give quick steam.
Recipe card for steamed quinoa cake
Steamed quinoa cake
Ingredients
To caramel the sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1+1/2 tbsp+cup water
Frying nuts
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/3 cup mixed nuts
- 1/4 cup sliced dry coconut
For quinoa cake
- 1 cup quinoa flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
Caramelizing the sugar
- In a saucepan bring sugar and 1 tbsp of water to heat. Keep stirring.
- Slowly, the sugar starts to melt and will turn brown.
- Immediately switch it off and and 1/2 cup of water, and mix well. Be careful, it may splash.
- Keep aside
Frying nuts
- Heat the pan with the coconut oil and add the mixed nuts and fry. Then add the coconut flakes and fry for 30 seconds and switch it off.
Preparing the batter
- In the blender, add the quinoa flour, brown sugar, cooked quinoa, salt, caralized syrup, coconut milk, vanilla extract and blend it.
Steaming the batter
- Choose the pan you are going to steam and add 2 tbsp of coconut oil to it.
- Steam the pan with oil in pressure cooker or instant pot.
- Remove it, while the pan is hot pour the batter add the roasted nuts and mix well. Add more nuts on the top if needed.
- Steam covered for 15 minutes or cook till the toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Allow it to cool and cut them into slices.