Gluten-Free Chocolate Quinoa Cake (Perfect for Passover)

This gluten-free chocolate quinoa cake recipe yields a rich, chocolatey dessert that your guests won’t believe is gluten-free. It’s also the perfect Passover-friendly dessert. Since my birthday falls on or around Passover, it’s also sometimes my birthday cake. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.

I love a good chocolate cake, so when I received a review copy of The Healthy Jewish Kitchen by Paula Shoyer and saw a decadent chocolate quinoa cake inside, I knew I had to make it. Ever since I first laid eyes on this cake, I have made it every year for Passover. And without fail, every year, it’s a wild success!

This chocolate quinoa cake is perfect on many levels. Let me gush a bit:

• It’s rich and chocolatey. You’ll feel like you’re indulging in a forbidden cake.
• It’s flourless. The only “grain” (quinoa is a pseudo-grain) you’ll find is cooked quinoa blended into the batter.
• It’s 100 percent gluten-free, so it’s safe to enjoy if you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
• It’s perfect for Passover, a Jewish holiday when the Jewish people are forbidden to eat leavened bread made from wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt. Quinoa is allowed and works beautifully in this cake.

While this is the perfect Passover chocolate cake, I know you’ll soon find out that it deserves to be served year-round!

How to Make Chocolate Quinoa Cake

The gluten-free chocolate quinoa cake recipe is surprisingly simple to make. So much of it can be made ahead of time, too. In fact, if you plan right, you can make the quinoa a few days before Passover and leave it in your fridge until you’re ready to assemble your batter and bake your cake.

The first step in making this cake is to assemble your ingredients, and of course, this includes having your quinoa cooked and ready to go. You can use any style of quinoa you like, although make sure the package is labeled gluten-free. Read Is Quinoa Gluten Free? for more information on how to purchase safe, gluten-free quinoa.

I used this ancient grain blend of quinoa, which adds texture to the cake. For a smoother texture, use a milled white quinoa. 

Now combine orange juice, eggs, vanilla, oil, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Pulse 5-6 times, then add quinoa and process the mixture until smooth, about 60 seconds. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a high-speed blender.)

You’ll then add the melted chocolate to the food processor and pulse a few more times until it’s well blended. It should look like a smooth chocolate cake batter.

You’ll then add the batter to a well-greased and floured bundt pan (use potato starch as your “flour”) and place it in the oven to bake for 50 minutes. The cake will stick to the pan, so make sure you coat the bundt pan well with cooking spray or oil.

Here is what the cake looks like once it’s baked. After it has cooled for 10-20 minutes in the bundt pan, you’ll want to flip it out of the pan onto a wire rack to fully cool. If the sides are stuck, use a spatula to loosen the sides. Be gentle with the cake!

In the original recipe, you melt bittersweet chocolate, oil, and a little vanilla together, and then the glaze is slathered on the cake.

However, I have come to love frosting instead of chocolate glaze. It tastes more like a donut with the frosting on top! My frosting is made from cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and dairy-free milk.

Both toppings are featured in the recipe below, so take your pick!

A Few More Details about the Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Here are a few things you need to know about this gluten-free chocolate quinoa cake recipe:

Texture: This cake has an awesome texture. Depending on the brand of quinoa you use, you might be able to feel the quinoa in your mouth as you chew the cake. 

You can make the quinoa more smooth in texture by blending the quinoa well into the cake batter. The more blended it becomes, the more cake-like the texture. 

Moist: This cake is extremely moist, much more moist than other chocolate cakes I’ve made in the past. If you like a moist chocolate cake, this cake is for you. I think the quinoa helps it hold in the moisture. Yum!

Flavor: You don’t taste the quinoa at all, which some people dislike because of its nutty flavor and scent. This cake tastes rich and chocolatey. While it does have sugar in it, it’s not that sweet—just right.

Appearance: Well, it looks amazing, right? Your eyes do not deceive you. This cake tastes as good as it looks. I wish I were a better photographer!

Kosher for Passover: All ingredients in this cake are Kosher for Passover. Quinoa is fine to use during Passover, and you add a little potato starch to dust the pan. You could also use tapioca starch, and if it’s not Passover, you could use cornstarch as well.

Protein-Rich: Quinoa contains four grams of protein and three grams of fiber per serving. While many people consider quinoa a grain, it’s technically a seed and one of the healthier “grains” you can consume. Keep in mind, however, that while quinoa is gluten-free, it still contains 17 net carbs per serving so it is not considered a low-carb food.

Make Ahead: You can make this cake 1-2 days ahead of time. I find it becomes even more moist with time. However, I think the cake tastes best when it’s freshly baked. I prepare the quinoa ahead of time so it’s easier to assemble.

Other Passover Recipes

Try any of these Passover-friendly recipes at your gluten-free seders:

• Passover Charoset
• Homemade Gluten-Free Oat Matzah
• Gluten-Free Matzo Ball Soup
• Easy Beef Brisket
• Sweet BBQ Cola Chicken
• No-Bake Gluten-Free Chocolate Matzah Cake
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies
• Overnight Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
• Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Torte