A Simple Grain-free, Bean-free Cake

A simple cake made from quinoa, amaranth, and flax.

I've been trying to cut the sugar in my family's diet. I avoid artificial sugars and sugar alcohols, since they are made from corn; Furthermore, my son with autism reacts poorly to them. In this recipe, I use sucanat but less than I have in the past. If you're looking for a grain-free cake that is not too sweet, then this is it.

This recipe requires a food processor or powerful, wide-based blender.

2 cups whole quinoa
2 & 1/2 cups water
1 cup ground flax seeds or flax meal
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup granulated sugar (sucanat, palm sugar, or maple sugar)
3 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease 7x11x2", 9" round, or prefered pan.
2) Add quinoa and 2 cups water to food processor and process for 5 minutes or till well combined.
3) Add flax meal and 1/2 cup water to processor and process for 3 minutes.
4) In a separate, large bowl, add amaranth flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and sugar and combine with fork.
5) Pour wet mixture into dry mix and combine, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl.
6) Add apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) and gently fold in with silicone or rubber spatula. This is when cake will begin to rise. Be careful not to over mix.
7) Quickly pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in oven for 40 minutes or until done.

This cake is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Grain-free, Bean-Free, Vegan Spice Cake

This cake is similar to Grain-free Gingerbread Cake but made with quinoa instead of besan and arrowroot. It's just as delicious, and the whole family loved it. This recipe requires a food processor or wide-based blender.

Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup flax seed meal or ground flax seeds
1 cup granulated sugar (sucanat, palm, or maple)
1 & 1/2 cup quinoa flour or ground quinoa or finely ground almonds
1 & 1/4 cup water (use just 1 cup water if using almonds)
1/3 cup organic coconut oil
1/4 vanilla bean pod or caviar

Dry ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg blend)

Last ingredient:
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease 11x7x2", 8x8", or 9" round pan.
2) Place wet ingredients in food processor and process for 5 minutes.
3) Place dry ingredients in separate bowl and stir together.
4) Pour wet mixture into bowl containing dry mix and stir together, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl.
5) Make sure oven is preheated and pan is prepared.
6) Add last ingredient to bowl and gently fold in using rubber or silicone spatula. This is when the cake will begin to rise, so be careful not to over mix.
7) Pour cake batter into pan and gently smooth out or ease batter into sides of pan if needed.
8) Sprinkle with additional sucanat if desired.
9) Place cake into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake is done.

If you'd like to add a cup of raisins or other add-in,

• soak dehydrated-fruit for 10 minutes and then drain
• increase baking soda to 1 teaspoon
• add 1 cup of your choice fruit, nibs, nuts, etc., and stir in before adding vinegar or lemon juice
• increase vinegar or lemon juice to 1/4 cup

Enjoy!

This cake is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Grain-free Gingerbread Cake

This is by far the best gingerbread I have ever tasted! I made this cake today out of ingredients on hand, and it's phenomenal.  If you'd like the bean-free version of this cake, please see Grain-free, Bean-free, Vegan Spice Cake . You will need a food processor, wide-based blender, or strong mixer.


Wet mix ingredients:
1/3 cup organic flax seed meal (ground flax seeds)
1 cup granulated sugar (sucanat, palm, or maple)
1/2 cup besan aka chickpea flour
1 cup arrowroot starch/flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup virgin, organic coconut oil
1/4 vanilla bean pod or caviar

Dry ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg blend)
3/4 tsp baking soda

Last ingredient:
3 tbsp. raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease 11x7x2" pan or 8" round, or 8x8".
2) Add wet ingredients to food processor and process until combined.
3) In separate, large bowl place dry ingredients and stir together.
4) Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix well, making sure to scrape bottom of bowl.
5) Add last ingredient, apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice), and fold into mixture using silicone or rubber spatula. This is when the cake will start rising, so do not over mix.
6) Quickly pour mixture into greased pan and sprinkle with extra granulated sugar on top if desired.
7) Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until done.

Enjoy

This cake is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, soy-free, almond-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

Grain-free, Bean-free, Vegan Vanilla Cake

Grain-free vanilla cake made with flax and agave.

My kids call this birthday cake...

It's kind of sweet and disappears quickly. You will need a food processor or wide-based blender to make this cake.

1 cup whole quinoa
1 cup water
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 cup agave nectar or maple syrup

2 cups ground amaranth or amaranth flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp orange peel granules (optional)
scrapings of vanilla bean, a very small amount is good
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup unfiltered apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 tsp organic sugar (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 F, and grease an 11x7x2 pan with coconut oil. A 9" round or 8x8 pan may work as well.
• In food processor or blender, process quinoa and 1 cup water for a few minutes.
• Add flax seeds and process until homogeneous, then add agave nectar (or maple syrup) and combine in processor.
• In a separate bowl, add ground amaranth or amaranth flour, baking soda, orange peel granules, vanilla scrapings, and combine. I usually use a fork to mix dry ingredients.
• Add coconut oil to dry mix and stir.
• Pour wet mixture from food processor into dry mixture in bowl. Stir until combined. Again, I usually just use a fork to mix ingredients.
• Lastly, pour apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) into bowl and gently fold into cake mix, using a rubber or silicone spatula. At this point the vinegar will react with the baking soda and cause the cake batter to rise in the bowl, so don't overmix, just combine.
• Quickly pour batter into pan and sprinkle cake with organic sugar before placing in oven.
• Bake cake for approximately 30 minutes.

Cake right after coming out of oven.

I also will make a chocolate sauce for the cake, using 1 tbsp carob powder (or raw cocoa) mixed with 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil. The kids love it! And so do I. Note: Carob is a bean, so the cake will not be bean-free if you put carob on it.



Grain-free vanilla cake with carob and coconut oil topping.



This cake is grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, dairy-free, casein-free, bean-free, soy-free, almond-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, potato-free, nightshade-free, and xanthan gum-free.

It can be made yeast-free by using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.