The cooked quinoa gives this cake a delicious moist texture.

Carrot quinoa cake with cream cheese frosting

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking and cooling time: 50 minutes
Serves 12

1 1/2 cups gluten-free self-rising flour (See tips)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups ( 8 oz) firmly packed shredded carrot
1/2 cup seedless raisins, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/3 cup pure confectioners’ or icing sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice, strained

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a square 8 inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.

2. Sift the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg together into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, ground almonds, quinoa, carrot and raisins and stir to combine. Whisk the oil and eggs together, add to the quinoa mixture and stir until well combined.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until the cake is firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it. (You may need to cover the cake with foil if it is browning too quickly.) Transfer the pan to a wire rack and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and set aside on the wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and orange zest until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice and beat until well combined. Spread evenly over the top and sides of the cooled carrot cake and serve.

Tips: If you don’t require this cake to be gluten free, use 11/2 cups wheat self-rising flour instead of the gluten-free flour.

To create your own self-rising flour combine 11/2 cups all-purpose flour, 11/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

This cake will keep, stored in an airtight container in a cool place, for up to 3 days.

Recipe courtesy of Supergrains, Chrissy Freer, Appetite by Random House, 2013.

Photo: Julie Renouf